My Mom's Basement - FRIDAY BONUS EPISODE 22 - KATLYN CHOOKAGIAN/JIM FLORENTINE

Episode Date: January 31, 2020

Robbie sits down with longtime friend of the show (and now the #1 Contender for Valentina Shevchenko's UFC Flyweight Championship) Katlyn Chookagian this week, just two weeks ahead of her title match in Houston, and we find out what goes into a championship caliber camp. Afterwards, one of Barstool Sports' newest hires - Jim Florentine - joins the program to talk a little rock n' roll with Robbie. Check out Jim's podcast 'EVERYBODY IS AWFUL' on the Barstool Sports podcast network now!!!You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/mymomsbasement

Hey, My Mom's Basement listeners. You can find our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Super Brawl 2, Rough and Rowdy 11. I will be on commentary tonight, January 31st, if you're listening to this on release date. With Dave and Big Cat, we got Caleb and Ronan on interviews. We got a bunch of great fights. You can go to buyrnr.com right now to figure out how to order the pay-per-view. And if you're down here in Miami with us, you can go to roughandrowdybrawl.com, figure out how to get tickets here. You can get a table, all that fun stuff. Even the blackout party is going down afterwards.

We have this very special Friday bonus edition of the show for you today, and we're going to get right into it. So we've got two interviews, the first of which with Kaitlyn Chukagian, one of our best friends in the UFC, one of my best friends in the UFC, ahead of her title match with Valentina Shevchenko. She came into the office. We sat down. We talked about everything leading up to it. We talked about the last two fights she's had. It was a really good chat. I got a lot of insight into what makes a title match camp happen, what goes into a title match camp. It's very interesting. She's got that title match in two weeks against Shevchenko down in Houston on that Jon Jones card. So let's get right into that.

And then afterwards, I'll throw it over to an interview with Jim Florentine, Barstool's newest hire. He hosts a podcast for us called Everybody is Awful. It's very funny. I've been a fan of this guy for a really long time, going back to that metal show. So please enjoy these next two interviews. I will catch you on Monday. All right, welcome back to that metal show so please enjoy these next two interviews i will catch you on monday all right welcome back to the show i am joined here in studio by a very special guest a return guest this is becoming i don't know sort of tradition i guess we didn't talk the last time you fought we should have yeah we we talked before you fought joanne calderwood i've got caitlin chukagian and before you have a title match a title match that we've been talking about forever it feels like and now it's finally upon us.

Let's talk, going back to that fight with JoJo, let's recap the whole thing, especially because I saw her at the UFC PI the week after the fight, felt real bad. But I didn't say anything, I was just like, you know, fuck the other side, that's kind of how we operate here. Yeah, of course. Did that fight go the way you expected it to? The Joanne Calderwood fight? Yeah, it definitely did.

I mean, I saw myself beating her for sure. I didn't think she was that good. She was kind of didn't agree with the decision, which I was like blown away. But sometimes, like, you know, in the moment you feel, I'm like, oh, she'll go back and see it. And then, like, two months later, she's still, like, talking about how she, I ran away the whole time. And, yeah, I didn't want to fight. I was like, girl, your face was busted up. I saw you i saw you actually posted some you've like fired back a few times you were like getting in the chirp game yeah yeah i'm and i'm not like that at all but she was chirping and i'm

like okay like the fight's over i beat you you're gonna say it's weird after the fight right yeah and it was like it wasn't like a split decision like your face was fucked up like my face was fine like so why how are you still talking about it but you know she wants like to do a rematch I'm like I'll definitely do a rematch because I think she was probably my easiest fight in the UFC so I'm like you know guaranteed payday like I'm definitely in for that does a fight ever go when I feel like it's a cliche question like did the fight go the way you expected it to but does it ever completely change on a dime and you're like, you leave a fight and even if you won, you're like, I didn't expect the way it went? Or going through scenarios, you're like, I assume it's either going to go this way or this way.

Yeah. You know, a lot of them, I, you know, I see myself probably dominating a little bit more and they're not for whatever reason. My fight against Jessica Ai, that was my last loss yeah um it's not that I overlooked her and I wasn't you know that wasn't the case at all but I just had a bad night and I know that's about that last time yeah it's such like a lame excuse like you know if I won and the girl was like oh I just had a bad night I'd be like yeah right whatever but like you know it is what it is yeah you feel like you know yourself yeah so that fight was the only one that I was kind of surprised like mid-fight I was like all right let's go and like you know, it is what it is. Yeah, you feel like you know yourself. Yeah, so that fight was the only one that I was kind of surprised.

Like, mid-fight, I was like, all right, let's go. And, like, you know, that one sucked because I'd rather would have just gotten, like, beat the fuck up and been like, wow, she was really good. But I'm like, fuck, I know I'm so much better than that. So that's the only fight that didn't really go the way I thought, and that one kind of sucks. Hopefully you get that one back. What about early on when you were fighting, like, seven a year you're fighting in Hungary you're fighting all over the place the opponents that you couldn't get film on was that ever surprising no I think just because in the beginning that's just how it was you know now I feel like you know I guess that is the

transition from like when you're competing in high school golden glove stuff like yeah you don't know anything you know you know you don't even know if they're like the same age. Like I was doing golden gloves and I was like in high school, like my mom had to take me there and I'm going, it's like, I'm like, this girl's got tattoos all over. I'm like, you know, my mom, I'm not even allowed to drive yet. So that was like super intimidating. You don't see that till you get there. You know, I'm in Philly in the boxing gym showing up and I'm like, you know, definitely don't look like the other boxers.

With your mom. Yeah, yeah. Me and my mom. Not the most intimidating thing in the world. Exactly. We're both like the whitest girls ever. And so I know I'm sure the other girls weren't intimidated by me. But yeah, just growing up, like we didn't really.

It was kind of like the transition of like where everyone posts everything on social media. Instagram wasn't even that famous when I started MMA. It was just starting out, but people didn't post all their stuff. I remember when Instagram started, it was more like people were using the filters to try to get artsy. They were taking pictures of their fruit bowl. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now it's all thirst traps and stuff. Yeah, exactly.

It's changed a lot. It's changed a lot. We thought maybe if you got the win here, you would get the title match. I believe they did offer you the title match, but it was like a short notice thing, right? And it was close to your wedding? Yeah, they had offered me the Abu Dhabi card. Yeah, the Dubai. The Poirier Khabib card?

Yes. They offered me the title shot on there, and it was in like five weeks, and it was the day before my wedding. So I would have had to take it on five weeks and cancel my wedding. And I was just like, damn. I was like, it's funny because UFC is like, oh, I'm like, that's the day before my wedding. And, you know, they're like, oh, man. You could fly it back.

Oh, man, we really understand. Just think about it and let us know by the end of the night. I was like, wait, what? Damn, we really understand. Just think about it and let us know by the end of the night. I was like, wait, what? Damn, you wanted that. It's like when you're, like, fake and sick, but you really are sick. Yeah, yeah. And you want your mom to just be like, you know what? Stay home.

Yeah, yeah. You're like, I want you to say it so I don't have to ask. I was like, damn. But you know what I mean? I was a little, like, you know, I was, like, upset at the time, but I knew that, you know, I am in position at the time, but I knew that, you know, I am in position where I deserve a full camp. It did suck that you had to take another fight in between.

Yeah. And I knew when I said no at the time, like even like my husband was like, Hey, you should, he's like, take the fight. Who cares about the wedding? And I kind of like,

that's such a dude. Yeah. Yeah. And I think for him, you're like, motherfucker, I've had a Pinterest board for eight years. Yeah.

I was like, this is my first like girly thing I'm doing. Like I'm for him, you're like, motherfucker, I've had a Pinterest board for eight years planning out this wedding. I was like, this is my first like girly thing I'm doing. Like I'm kind of already committed to it. And also it's like five weeks is kind of short for a camp, you know? What's your ideal camp length if you're, if you, you know? I think like, I mean, I usually do like an eight week camp, but I train all the time. I can be in shape to take it. Yeah.

But it's a five round fight and it's just eight where you went for for this camp uh yeah so i saw i had my fight november 2nd at msg and i was there great following week was like during the week i signed the fight so i was about like you know 10 weeks out i think so you know it was kind of like that thing where i want to take time off to rest from my camp i don't want to just jump right into it, but I still am like, no, I have a title fight coming, so I want to train. So I was trying to do a couple weeks of letting my body rest but do skill development. The Maya fight. It was on that MSG card, and Donald Trump was in the building.

I'm bringing this up because as a media member, getting in the building was crazy. crazy it took us like an hour and a half to get in we had to go in you had to like give your bags in they had the police dog sniff them it was a crazy process for the fighters i think it was like the same thing you guys were had crazy circumstances do you have any stories of security being insane for the president so when we went we had to go earlier usually like they they shuttle us over like in groups like the the first three fights of the night will go. They shuttle you for the MSG card? Yeah. I figure you stay, like, right across the street, no?

We stayed near Times Square, but they shuttle us. But the shuttle took, like, an hour and a half from our hotel to get there, which was a little annoying. But when we got there, then I was earlier on in the card. So I fought like right before Trump had got there. So when we're done in the back, there's, you know, they have a student like I won. You go in the back, get your wraps taken off, see the doctor. And then you go to like the media. And then I was midway through some of my interviews. Like, all right, we're going to have to take you to the green room.

There were on lockdown right now. So I was like, OK, like, so I'm in like, all right, we're going to have to take you to the green room there. We're on lockdown right now. So I was like, okay. Like, so I'm in like, like no shoes. I'm in shorts and a tank top. I'm like, you fought in. Yeah, exactly what I fought in. And I didn't even go to the locker room yet. So we're like sitting in the green room.

They're like, yeah, it's on lockdown. You can't, you can't go anywhere. And I was like, damn, I'm sitting there with my two coaches and they're on their phones the whole time. I'm like, all right. I ate some ice cream, ate food. But like it's like shitty food back there anyway. And, you know, I'm my adrenaline's pumping. Yeah, my adrenaline's pumping.

I'm like, all right. And then we're sitting there. I'm like, all right, how long we're going to be there? No one's answering. I was like, we don't know. We don't know. We don't know. And at least they had a screen so we could watch like the bites.

But I was like, I just bought in one. Like, I want to get my phone. I want to see like. It's such a, like an adrenaline dump is happening. You want to respond to everyone going crazy. I'm sitting there. They're not talking. They're on their phones.

I have no phone. I'm just sitting there like cold and sweaty. And I'm like, can I wear one of your sweatshirts or something? And we had no idea how long it was going to be. And then, and then like, I knew my husband was in a war, in a war. He was cornering someone else on that card. So I knew he was in another warm-up room so i'm like can i just go to the warm-up room like no we're on are you on that card no no so do you keep the the cornering separate between the husband and wife is that like a weird thing yeah i mean you would snap on

them like and bring up past arguments if yeah the second round didn't go the way you want you know there's no we just kind of keep it separate. We try to, like, have, like, our life and then fighting different. But he does help you train in camp itself, right? Yeah. No, he definitely does. He trains, like, at Henzo's, and he, you know, he helps me out. Like, when I go to wrestling class, he goes sometimes, and he watches, and we'll do stuff

on our own. But he's not one of, like, my main, you main— I'd already been in the UFC when I met him, and I just think it's a little bit better for my professionalism, for fighting, and for our relationships, just to kind of—we keep it separate, but he understands it, and we do train together, and it's more fun when we do. I think it's interesting because there's a few cases of this happening. Paige Van Zandt has it with her husband.

Every girl dates their coach. Mike Perry, Rose Namahunas is another one. The last two girls I fought, Joanne Calderwood and Jennifer Maya, they both date their coaches. It's just kind of like that's like a trend, I guess. It sort of is. So when you actually get the call and they're like, all right, this Valentina thing is happening. She's ready. You're ready.

Who made the call? And you were expecting it it so maybe it's not like oh my god this is a shocker it's not like the call you're going to the ufc that's got to be fucking awesome right yeah it definitely was cool like a concrete i have a title yeah i was like okay but even then it's like i'm not so i'm like all right i'm not like happy about it until i get the contract and i sign it and then even then you're like okay, when you sign the contract, you have to wait until you can't post about it until UFC posts about it. And that takes a couple days. So you're like, okay, is she signing it? Is she signing it?

I knew she would, but you never want to go too crazy because you're like, I don't know. Maybe before I took the giant from my fight, they said they were going to look at my fight and the um i don't even know the girl's name that girl that fought uh jessica i they were going to decide between both of us so that fight hadn't happened yet so when i signed the contract i'm like well this girl goes out and does like a one one minute knockout they might be like even if i sign this boring decision boring decision even if i signed a contract they'll be like fuck you they don't care you know so i was trying not to get my hopes up but i was i was definitely excited and then um it was the one day like on the espn like their push notifications was like uh valentina shevchenko caitlin shikagan that's how you like

officially found out you got a notification i was I was like damn I was like alright I got the ESPN notification like all my friends were like sending me screenshots or like wait you just came up on like the ticket thing on ESPN and I was like okay this is cool now. That is cool and you're on a John Jones card. I hate John Jones. He's my least favorite fighter in the UFC but it's kind of cool.

John Jones is a legendary. He's like the greatest of all time when they put all of the posters of his fights. Like you're going to be on one of those posters. A lot of eyes are going to be on this. And I think it's – correct me if I'm wrong. This is your first time fighting in Vegas in the UFC? Well, this one's in Houston.

But it's my first time – Oh, this is in Houston. I'm wrong. Yeah, there's one in Vegas right after. The Adesanya card, I think it is. I think that one's in Vegas. Yeah, there's one right over. Yeah, I haven't fought in Vegas.

It's crazy that you haven't fought in Vegas. I looked down the list of all your cards and it's like united center this center i think they try to put me on like a lot of like the east coast cards because there's not many girls a lot of fans and stuff yeah there's not many girls from the east coast that fight so they try to put me on there but um but i mean texas there's no state tax so i'm all about it oh yeah that's amazing yeah save a good 10 on my on my paycheck so that changed when when jones fucked up that one car that they had to move to california yeah i think california does have it and someone there was like a rumor tweet or someone that like went out the other day that said like houston cards being changed to california and i was like you

were like what and then i read it and then i like at first like it was only first then I read it, and then I, like, at first, like, it was only first, then I read the comments, I could tell it was a fake account, but at first I was like, no. Yeah, how annoying has the media been in this one, talking about Valentina as, like, an unbeatable monster and being like, do you have the tools to beat her? Does that get on your nerves? It doesn't. I mean, that's kind of like what, you know, the same questions even when i wasn't fighting her that's what people ask everyone in the division anyway just because she's been so dominant but um you know i'm not one like it's just the same questions where people are like how do you think you could beat her and i'm like i'm not the type of person like i don't talk shit you're not gonna go out there and be like i'm gonna fucking rip her face off and knock her out yeah and to me i'm just like i'm not good at that so i'm not even like i almost don't want to even take part in i'm just like i'll just show you like i know

the skills i have and like first of all i don't want to say everything that i've been working on you know like yeah do i think she's a good fighter absolutely that's why she's a champ do i think i'm better than the girls that she's beaten recently yeah so like am i confident of course like you know i i think that she's definitely my toughest opponent but i'm confident that i have the skills to beat her people talk about the the champ camp mentality and how when you go into that camp for a title match like everything changes the team is all locked in did you feel that or is this any other fight camp to you this is business as usual i definitely think it's business as usual like the main a lot of times people ask me they're like oh what have you done differently in this camp i'm

like well sparred lefties but other than that i'm like you know what's been working for me has been working you know i make a couple changes all the time but no matter who i'm are you a big watch film on your opponent person and and kind of try to spar against people acting emulating as them yeah i mean i i watch when i first get an opponent i watch all their film and then i try to like not watch it a lot and then maybe once or twice in the camp i'll go back and watch something a lot just have your coaches yeah my coaches watch a lot of film and then they tell me i try not to obsess over it just because you know like someone was like looking at one of her fights and talking about i'm like yeah but that fight was like three years ago you know it's totally different with an

opponent like valentina like another one where she's been all over weight divisions yeah it's hard to look at a fight against the manda nuna she had at 135 exactly she's not she's not a big girl she i mean she's definitely strong but she's i'm big i'm bigger than her and so when you look at her fights at 35 she she was definitely outsized. So the fights would be just a little bit differently, even just mentally knowing she was undersized and stuff. So it's kind of hard. Some things that might not have worked for her at 135

definitely work for a 25. Yeah, you did kind of ramp it up, though. I see you got videographers doing this camp. You're posting sparring clips on Instagram and everything. And that's so cool because from an outsider's perspective camp is the coolest when it looks like a rocky movie or something and it seems like that's what you're sort of getting into like connor's the best at it and posting you know it'll be 2 a.m and i'll post a picture of him all sweaty and i'll be like just got the greatest session of all time and yeah did you consider like

hey this is going to be the biggest opportunity of my life like let's get cameras in let's get a crew like all that kind of stuff did you build the team um i kind of got lucky uh one of my good friends is really into videographer and he wanted to just follow like kind of following around and make videos and stuff so i'm like he's into it and i'm friends with him so it's like i like having a good person to be around yeah yeah so it kind of just worked out for us with that. And then I just try to post a little bit more just because, you know, for me, I'm surrounded by fighters all day. So and people that I train with, that's those are like my friends. Yeah.

So sometimes when I post stuff about training, I'm like, well, they don't want to see. I think I'm like, wait, my my followers are not just the guys at the gym. No, I feel that here sometimes when everyone at Barstool is doing something big and it's like, am I going to really post this Instagram? We all experienced it. It's not cool to them. Yeah, yeah. But then it's like perspective.

You got to realize like, okay, most of my followers aren't like at the gym. Your co-workers, quote unquote. Yes, exactly. So sometimes I'm like, oh, just had a hard training. And then, you know, one of my friends was like, oh, I was there with you. What are you talking about?

I don't know, it just feels uncomfortable. So like, then I was like, all right, I have to think about I was there with you what are you talking I don't know it just feels uncomfortable so like then I was like all right I have to think about like what people that aren't at the gym or don't train want they want to see so I just try to post more of my training and you know things to me seem normal and I guess they're not normal so I try to post that do you feel disconnected from reality at all when you're in a camp like do you ever come out of a training session and someone tells you something about like pop culture and you're like what like i have no idea what you're talking about are you falling behind on your shows your movies like or is that are you able to keep it separate because it is your it is your job you're used to this no i definitely am like literally

last night someone sent me like it was a meme and it was um are you like who the fuck is baby yoda no i i kind of know who that is i mean i've just seen the picture but i i didn't know about the coronavirus oh yeah and i think it's i think it's here i think it got to new york yeah great i probably have it um and i don't even know what it is i know i don't mean to disrespect the coronavirus whatever it is but i feel like every few years it's the swine flu it's the Ebola exactly someone sent me like they had the meme where it was like the tail of the tape and it had the Weili.

Oh, yeah. And her opponent had like a quarantine outfit on. Well, did you see Joanna posted one that Weili was upset about? I think last night. And I was like, I don't get it. They're like, Caitlin, the coronavirus. I'm like, what? And this was yesterday.

I was like, I don't know. Like, I don't know anything. I think Joanna posted a picture of the tail of the tape and it was her in a gas mask. Yes, that's the one. Someone sent it to me and I was like, I don't get it. I think Joanna posted a picture of the tally tape and it was her in a gas mask. Yes, that's the one. Someone sent it to me and I was like, I don't get it. They're like, Caitlin, come on. They're like, Kurt, I'm like. Wiley posted a big thing where she was like, you know, you shouldn't disrespect this.

People are dropping dead in my country. It was a whole thing. She's got to understand we're Americans. We're not very smart. We don't know anything. At the same time, Joanna is one of those mind games people where she'll get in your face. She got in Rose's face and she was like, you're a mentally weak fool. I'm going to fucking kill you.

Right after she came out about mental health issues. So I don't think she gives a fuck. That's an interesting fight. What do you think about that? I'm not asking for like give me a pick, but I think that's a hell of a fight. I think it's a really good fight. I think that if Johanna would have fought her like right after the Rose fights, think that way lee would be you know on an advantage but i think that having a couple extra fights like johanna i think is like got her

momentum back it seems like yeah after like beating tisha torres and then um her michelle watterson i think that that last fight gave her her confidence back so i think she's you know i think she's gonna maybe be back on her her strawweight queen grind any other fights 2020 that excite you we got the adesanya fight coming up we got uh i think the i mean khabib and tony i feel like everyone keeps talking about like oh tony is gonna uh have fight mcgregor after and i'm like wait or not tony i'm sorry khabib is gonna fight uh connor after and i'm like he's gotta beat tony first and tony posted did you see the video he posted where people were doubting him and he had like the it was almost like a movie trailer of him coming back i mean

it's pretty cool i don't know who's gonna win that fight and usually i'm always like oh khabib's gonna smash this person yeah but i just think stylistically i'm like i don't know how that fight's gonna go so i would not be so weird that you like to be dressed to take him down he'll do 10 flips yeah i mean he takes people down but like tony's really good off of his back so it's kind of like that's the one i'm excited to see because i don't really know how that you'll probably be there too it's a brooklyn fight yeah yeah you get to go yeah um what do you think of the mcgregor fight i thought it was my god i love it oh your reaction video was amazing i was like i got i got so much hate for that people really obviously eminent mma

fans like the barstool fans were like this is so fun oh my god i thought the mma fans were like get this fucking snowflake ass soy boy off press row because you know what's funny is and then even you quote tweeted it and i was like i'm gonna react this way when you beat valentina yeah people went fucking crazy about that too they were like what are you an idiot like dm they were dming me like threats because i tweeted that yeah i'm gonna fucking oh my god i marked down all the people that said it and i'm like oh after that fight i'm gonna fucking clap back on you guys yeah tyler the creator did that with the grammys no no he won a grammy and he quote tweeted a tweet from nine years ago that said you'll never win a grammy from a random account with like 12 followers

and he's like yes i am that petty i love that that's like uh i remember like years ago i probably had like two amateur fights and like some like loser guy was dating at the time he was like oh you think all like you're fighting so important he's like you you act like you're ronda rousey like you're gonna be something and i'm like and you're like motherfucker catch me on pay-per-view this saturday night i'm like he's probably buying the pay-per-view next week oh he definitely is and you know he's telling everyone he's like i fucking knew that chick yeah yeah yeah like i fucking dumped her ass yeah yeah i always think of that i'm like that's so funny specifically it was like a movie scene like him saying like oh you think you're gonna be like you're a champion or something you think you're ronda rouse like, that's so funny. Specifically, it was like a movie scene, like him saying, like, oh, you think you're going to be like UFC champion or something? You think you're Ronda Rousey because that's when she was like champ.

I'm like, I'm better than Ronda. Come on. I fucking love that. All right. Thank you, Caitlin. We're all behind you in this title fight. Can't wait. Thank you.

All right. Welcome back to the show. It's My Mom's Basement. And I am here with one of Barstool's newest employees, Jim Florentine, a guy that I've been a fan of for a long time. Going back to that metal show, I'm honored to have you in here finally getting to talk to him. I appreciate it. He's usually like middle-aged dude, so. I was really like chomping at the bit to get a podcast with you because I'm like, fucking, he knows how to talk rock and roll. Like, I could finally talk rock and roll to somebody in this company. Usually it's Frankie who plays drums in our, you know, barstool punk band.

But usually I'm telling him, like, yo, fucking, today I sent him How the West Was Won. I was like, fucking, listen to Moby Dick on this. It's incredible. So finally having someone I feel like who has so much more knowledge than me. He shouldn't be the smartest guy in the room. I'm always fascinated that young people are into, like, hard rock and metal and all that stuff. Because it's not really on everyone's radar and it's not popular. It's not in the mainstream.

So your parents get you into it? No, so my brother. I got a brother 12 years older than me. And he got into it through my uncles and growing up. We did a whole podcast on this show about our fandom for Motley Crue growing up. Motley Crue, for me, it was Motley, Guns, and Kiss. Those were the three that were just your friend Eddie Trunk. Me and my brother, every Christmas Eve, would listen to, you know, Kissmas on Eddie Trunk.

So we were like real hardcore into all that shit. But I wanted to talk to you about like your rock and roll history. We'll do rock and roll podcasts in the future, but just a brief one. I know it's the cliche, but how did you get your rock and roll history we'll do rock and roll podcasts in the future but just a brief one i know it's the cliche but how did you get into rock and roll well i got from older brothers too my dad was in like 50s music so you know it was all right when i was you know when you're in the car the key is when you're in the backseat of car growing up whatever whoever's driving plays you that shit you got no choice but to like it. So I had two older brothers, got me into ACDC, Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, all of that stuff. You know, when I was a kid, I'd be driving around with them and they would just be cranking that shit. So I had no choice but to like that music.

And those were like, would you say your favorite bands as a kid? Would you say like those or was it that was the, no, that's my older brother's music? No, yeah. I think I just, I got into music when they started getting into music. When they, you know, I always wanted to hang around them. Yep. They were older. They would, you know, they'd get me beer when I was like 13, you know, and stuff like that.

They'd have all these parties and they'd be cranking like ACDC and Black Sabbath. And you're in the era of those guys are at the top of the world. They look like larger than life, you know, rock stars. Yeah, and then I just got into it then. And then I just really got immersed in the music and then became a dj at college radio was a dj at the college radio station i started my own dj business i was djing like a local rock wow all like hard rock and metal stuff not the not the uh the college one i interned at a station whatever so i really wanted to go that way with it. Were you going to concerts all the time growing up?

All the time, yeah. What were your favorite? Like, what are the ones that still stand out to you? Well, my older brothers would take me. Like, my parents weren't too happy. Like, they took me when I was 12 to see, like, Ted Nugent and Aerosmith. That's awesome. I think my first concert coming from a Jersey guy was Bon Jovi when I was fucking six or something.

Yeah, but it's cool. Yeah, I mean, look, I got a nine-year-old who's been to 19 shows. Wow. And he's seen Slipknot three times. That's awesome. I used to my brother used to burn me Slipknot CDs and then he we would put a false slip in the front of the burned like CD case because my mom didn't want me listening to that. Yeah, I was three, four years old. Right. He just texted me, though. He's got a five year old son and he's like he's requesting Slipknot and corn every night. Yeah. So it's like we're really getting them started early when you get into that metal show i know we're taking a a huge jump but i was interested

in this because you sort of start to work not in the music industry but sort of you know parallel to it does that make you does that reinvigorate a love for music for you or did it have the opposite effect or was that just always in the background i always was in the music always you know as a comic you know but i when i realized with the music djing and clubs and shit like that i'm like all right i don't want to do this the rest of my life so when i got in the stand i'm like this is what i want to do but music was always a big thing for me i'd always still be going to shows and concerts and then i met eddie trunk being in new york i'd hear a show listen to his radio show on friday nights come back from a comedy show.

And I'm like, dude, me and Don Jameson would be doing shows together. And we're like, man, this fucking guy likes the same music we do. How do I not know him? He grew up in New Jersey. And then we wound up meeting him at a show, at a concert one time.

We go, hey, man, we're comedians. We love your show. He goes, oh, you should come up on my radio show on a Friday night in New York and sit in. And we'll play some songs. We'll talk. And then we started being friends with him. He goes, I'm going to go pitch this TV show to VH1.

I already work over there. And they go, okay, we'll give you a pilot episode. And then next thing you know, we did eight years and 130 episodes on there. So I was always in it. I never had to do any research on any guest that was ever on there because I was a big fan. I couldn't believe it. I'm like, I can't wait to ask angus young this or brian johnson yeah for a guy like you do you

get starstruck do you have the guest that would come in and you'd be like oh fuck this is like yeah every time manson when manson was on we had him on a bunch of times lemmy when lemmy was alive we had ronnie james deo and then we were talking before the podcast axel when we interviewed axel that was his first interview in 14 years. And I feel like he probably hasn't done one since. Has he? No, he's done a couple. He did Jimmy Kimmel.

Oh, yeah, he did. He did Kimmel maybe twice, I think he did. Yeah, he's done a few here and there. But, you know, he doesn't have to. When they're selling out stadiums, you don't have to do any press. Yeah. Did you become friends with any of these guys that, you know, were the metal show that were like your idols rock stars or i don't know if you want to call them your idols but did you wind up developing relationships with rock stars and stuff um you know i knew a few of them

you know still friends with cory taylor from slipknot yeah he's he actually has been on years back he was on our wrestling podcast he's a huge huge wrestling fan. Yeah. Now, Corey's a great dude, man. And an incredible voice. If you go on the acoustic shows, that's an all-time rabbit hole. You could go down on YouTube, his covers that he does. Oh, yeah. I've seen his live shows where he just doesn't – He just takes calls from the crowd and he'll sing. Yeah, and he sounds amazing.

He just did a Van Halen thing with Michael Anthony where he sounded just like David Lee Roth. I'm like, holy shit. This guy's amazing. Dude's did a Van Halen thing with Michael Anthony where he sounded just like David Lee Roth. I'm like, holy shit, this guy's amazing. Dude's got a crazy good voice. There's videos of him doing Living on a Prayer where you're like, holy fuck. Yeah. This is the guy who throws the mask on in Slipknot? Yeah. Another thing that I wanted to talk to you about.

One of the biggest things in rock and roll right now, I think all the reunions going on. Guns N' Roses probably started years back with the Not In This Lifetime tour. And now we've got Smashing Pumpkins for three-fourths together. on guns and roses probably started years back with the not in this lifetime tour um and now we've got smashing pumpkins for you know three-fourths together uh black crows just got back together rage against the machine we were talking about earlier you're going to their first show back i'm incredibly jealous chili peppers got for shantae back and motley crew is you know back together out of retirement which ones i think the needle for you? I think My Chemical Romance is in there too. Yeah, My Chemical Romance.

I forgot to mention them. I should have as a pop punk guy myself, a Jersey guy. You know, look, everyone knows there's a lot of money out there. Yep. And that's why they're getting back together. It's all about the money. The economy is good. When the economy is good, people will go to comedy clubs.

They'll go to concerts. And when the comedy shits the bed and it's a fucking – we're in a recession, there's no – houses are half full half full comedy club so they know and then when they sort of guns reunion that these guys got the best and it wasn't all the original guys and they're doing a stadiums and everybody's like what are we doing they're still on the the not in this lifetime tour me and my brother talk about it we're like it's it's the you know till the end of this lifetime tour. They will be on that fucking tour.

Yeah, I know. I mean, I don't know what they have to do next. Do they do Appetite for Destruction from beginning to end? You know, the next tour. They keep teasing new music. Fortis and Slash, every interview they do, they say the new music's coming. But after Chinese Democracy. Supposedly Axl has three albums worth of material that he had done.

Which, it's hard to believe after Chinese Democracy that that's the case. Well, no, over the course of those 14 years in between, you know, the last release of Chinese Democracy had all these other songs, too, and since then or whatever. We'll wait to see if we ever actually get to see any of that from them. Yeah. But no, the bottom line is the money. Yeah. You know what I mean?

There's a ton of money out there. Do they exc you though when you go to these shows like if you go to a reunion show or you like this is a cash grabber no because they're always great yeah you know what i mean like they know hey listen man if we're gonna you know if we're gonna get back together we gotta be in shape we gotta sound good we gotta make sure we gotta rehearse we gotta fucking go out there and kick ass i'm with you i I think the best concert I ever saw was the first Guns N' Roses show I saw at MetLife Stadium on the Not In This Lifetime tour. Right. It was the first time I'd ever seen the band. I hadn't even seen them when, you know, it was Bumblefoot and DJ Ashbaugh and whoever.

But that show blew me. It was over three hours. It's amazing. I know. They're playing Deep Cuts. They're playing Double Talk and Jive. They're playing Coma. It blew me away. It's amazing, I know. As long as Tommy's on stage every night, he's the show, in my opinion.

So it's like, I'm in for that. I think I could buy into, hey, I'm going to see Motley Crue one more time and scream my head off to the hits. Yeah, there's a lot. I really think they'll get it together. Like everyone's already negative about it. If Vince doesn't sound good in an outdoor shed, how is he going to sound good in a stadium? Which is a completely different sound than a stadium. He's put on some weight,. How is he going to sound good in a stadium, which is a completely different sound than a stadium? He's put on some weight, so how is he going to sound?

They're going to get themselves in shape. Yeah. The rumor was that Live Nation wanted Vince to lose 40 pounds or else this thing wasn't going on. Probably. I mean, look, they're all going to know. They sat around, all the lawyers, and go, hey, listen, man, we're going to make – each of you guys are going to make $26 million on these dates. But you guys, we need to get in shape.

You know what I mean? Do whatever you got to do. Get a trainer for the next six months, just like someone in a movie. They put on muscle for a movie or an action. And do this for the summer, and then you're fine. And go back to do whatever the fuck you want to do. I think they'll be fine. I think they're going to sound good i think they'll probably have you know the motley crew girls singing back up to fill in the vocals which is

fine i got no problem with that even if you wanted to do a fucking backing track i saw kiss twice on their final tour right i don't know paul's lip syncing the whole time right i didn't give a shit yeah i watched both shows and i was like these are these are fun shows i can convince myself i'm a pro wrestling fan like i said so in my head yeah i can say you could suspend I didn't give a shit. I watched both shows, and I was like, these are fun shows. I can convince myself. I'm a pro wrestling fan, like I said, so in my head, I can say, ah, it's real. You can suspend disbelief and go, whatever. I just want it to sound good. So I think it's going to be great, man. I didn't think it was going to sell that many tickets.

Like, half the stadium's already sold out. I didn't think it was going to be that big. Yeah. But, I mean, think about it. They go, look, we're playing all the hits from Joan Jett, Poison, Motley Crue, and Def Leppard. So you're going to know every song. There's a thing, though, that says

there's rumors that they're going to alternate who's headlining depending on the night and Def Leppard might go on after Motley some night. That didn't make much sense to me. Well, I can't imagine going to that show and Motley Crue ending and then Def Leppard coming on afterwards. Def Leppard's got the songs, too.

It's all a matter of if you have the songs that the stadium's going to know. Do you think they're selling tickets, though? Do you think people are buying tickets to that tour to be like, I'm going to see Def Leppard? Well, you know, the problem with Def Leppard is they're around every year, every summer they're touring. They did that stadium, a few stadiums with Journey. I think they were flip-flopping on that too. So I think some of them, you know, look, Motley Crue, sometimes they sound off. Maybe they have an off night.

I've seen them where they sound amazing and they have an off night. So if they don't sound well. I've seen them when they sounded great as well. Yeah, I've seen them in both. People will be negative, but even on the final tour where people were negative about Vince, he had great nights. Look, I love Vince. I have no problem with him.

He doesn't look like the old Vince from when he was in 20. For him, it's like, hey, man, I'm a rock star. I'm going to do whatever the fuck I want. I'm going to eat. I'm going to drink. I don't give a shit.

I'm in my fucking mid to late 50s. So what? I want to enjoy my life. I like that attitude that he has. And then he goes and plays with a solo band in front of 1,200 people after he just did 20,000. I like

that. And his solo band's great, too. Did you like The Dirt? Were you in on that? The movie? I loved it. I liked it a lot. When I saw the trailer, I'm like, oh, man. I don't know if this... Well, first, before the trailer came out, I go, they're going to be PC. And then when I saw the trailer, I'm like, oh, man, I don't know if this – well, first, before the trailer came out, I go, they're going to be PC. Yeah. And then when I saw the trailer, I'm like, I don't know, but I really liked it.

I liked it a lot too. We talked about it on the Motley Crue podcast we did, but some people were so negative about it. And I feel like if you were a fan of Motley, if you were a fan of the book, it was like a scrapbook. They got a lot of fun moments. They captured the spirit of Motley. It's one of those movies where if you didn't like it, at the very least, you heard a bunch of Motley songs throughout. You saw a bunch of cool montages. I thought Machine Gun Kelly was awesome as Tommy Lee.

He was unbelievable. He was the highlight of the whole thing for me. He was amazing. I mean, mannerisms down to a T. The sequence where the camera is like on him and it's taking you through Tommy's night where he's on the private jet and he's at the strip club later on and he's on the, you know, the drum roller coaster in the crane. I loved everything about that. The last thing that we'll touch on in this little mini podcast we're doing here, the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I saw you talked about it on your new podcast, Everybody is Awful. Well, not a new podcast, new to Barstool. I'm completely with you with the the people getting in here we got the doobie brothers depeche mode uh whitney houston biggie which if tupac's in i guess put biggie in as well nine inch nails which i got no qualms about and t-rex the people that didn't get in we got judas priest motorhead craftworks sound garden it sounds like people that should get in but, we got Judas Priest, Motorhead, Craftworks, Soundgarden. It sounds like people that should get in.

Yeah. But the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame every year is – I don't know. How would you describe it to people that don't know the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Well, look, it's an exclusive club. You have to be at that – sit at that cool table. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like the elite table. Yeah, it's politics.

It's like trying to crack Hollywood and you're an outsider trying to get in. Yeah. But you don't really fit in. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like the elite table. Yeah, it's politics. It's like trying to crack Hollywood and you're an outsider trying to get in. Yeah. But you don't really fit in. Yeah. You know what I mean? That's what it reminds me of always. I say like it's like the academy. It's a bunch of old people who are concerned about politics more than anything.

Without a doubt. It's like the people that run Augusta. Right. They're all uptight about everything. Like the fact that we're talking Motley Crue and Kiss aren't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What kind of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is it? Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Poison are doing stadiums and they're selling them out. And then you're going to ignore that people like this music. And to them, it's like, I know, because I grew up a metalhead. I grew up in Jersey. So we're dumb. We're idiots. We're

ignorant. We just like to drink beer and listen to heavy metal and we're just angry. That's the perception they have. So that Rolling Stone magazine was always like the hit magazine. We're smarter than that. They never had heavy metal or hard rock bands in there. And that's pretty much the same people that vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I was going to say, now you look back at the Rolling Stone, their articles online of the top 10 heavy metal albums of the fucking 80s. And you're like, oh, now you're... Yeah, now you are. Because if

they reviewed any album... I would never go there to look for a review. Like if the new, you know, Aerosmith or Ozzy record came out, they'd always give it like one star. He's terrible. You know, who listens to this? Just a bunch of meatheads that work out in the gym and shit like that. So it's never

gotten respect. I said on the podcast ago, that so it's never gotten respect i said on the podcast ago i think it's even cooler to motorheads not in than they are yeah it is it is kind of like a fuck you because let me never wanted to be in that exclusive club and i mean look i think you know deep down you know it's cool like as a musician like holy shit i'm in the rock or hall of fame but you know as far as the metal community they've always never got respect yeah yeah but I think they're running out of bands, so they will get, all of those bands will get in. Of course, they're going to need ratings

for eventually. Yeah, I mean, you know, Rod Stewart puts a solo fucking, you know, a project out with a different band, and that band gets in. Yeah. You know, Springsteen had three different versions of Springsteen, you know, and all those bands get in. I know, that's going to be the thing when they just re-induct people over and over again. Yeah, Jeff back's been in 17 different times for every project he did so the

wwe does the same thing no offense to my guy xbox i love xbox but i think he's going to be like a four-time hall of famer before rick flair's made it in twice it's it's bizarre they just keep putting in the nwo the dx you're all in together yeah so um but yeah eventually it'll be a bit like it doesn't really bother me that they're not, like, I don't get mad. No. You know, it just, it doesn't. I used to, but. It's the same with the Grammys.

I watched the Grammys the other night. I knew it was going to be mostly shitty, like, not the music I like. Yeah. You know, Aerosmith. They don't even do the Rock and Roll Award on the show. I know, they won't even put it on the show, which is amazing. Yeah. Even last year when it felt like Greta Van Fleet got so much buzz behind them.

Are you in on them? Are you one of the? I like them. Look, any band that can bring – I love them. I'm super in on Greta Van Fleet. Absolutely. I saw them in the Mercury Lounge in New York City like two years ago before they were breaking big, and it was amazing. I saw them twice, and they're mind-blowing.

The shows are incredible, but you obviously have the haters being like, they're a Led Zeppelin cover band. Every band sounds like every other band. You know what I mean? Everyone said that about Rush as well when they started. They said it about whoever. Ozzy's got a new album next month. Does that excite you? I like the single a lot.

Yeah. I'm not holding out hope that it's going to be peak Sabbath. Right. But the single has Duff McKagan on bass. It has Chad Smith on drums. It sounds like they were trying to chase down that Sabbath sound. Yeah yeah and then slash plays on a few of the different solos oh is he playing on it yeah yeah yeah he plays on a few of them um you know uh i'm hoping i don't know you know um you know it kind of got rushed this album just to basically happen in like three weeks

yeah so ozzy usually doesn't work that way i'm hoping for the best I mean if the songs I heard are good so we'll see the songs I heard were good and for me like just my my instinct I was like is this a bunch of rock stars being like man Ozzy's got a bunch of health scares like let's make sure his fucking he's got an awesome album that god forbid if he has to go out out on he goes out on it that's what yeah I mean he could have went on out on the Black Sabbath 13 record which I love yeah I love that record. But look, as an artist, I'm a comedian. So if I wanted to do one more comedy special, I'm going to go do it. Who are other people to tell you not to?

Yeah. They really love that last one I put out. I go, I got one more in me. I'm going to do it. Totally. Instead of sitting at home. Ozzy doesn't like to sit at home. Yeah.

He wants to be back on the road and stuff. We've got to get out of this podcast studio. But we're going to have to do this in the future. It was a lot without a doubt, man. I love, I can talk music all day. It's great. And there's very few people around the, these parts that can talk music. I was sitting on radio the other day and I was sitting there listening to Trent and Riggs and Frankie talk about how great Nickelback was. And then we put on a stairway to heaven and nobody had ever heard it. And we put on Purple Rain and nobody had ever heard it. Look, when I was a kid, you know, a teenager, no one liked heavy metal either.

You know, and when I got in college, it was like, you know, you were an outsider always with it. So it's always 20-20 and it's much harder to find people that like heavy metal. And then, you know, I got my nephews into it, right? And then when they were kids, I would take them to a bunch of shows and they loved it. And then when they got to like 16 or 17, they're like, look, Uncle Jim, I got my nephews into it, right? And then when they were – I would take them to a bunch of shows and they loved it. And then when they got to like 16 or 17, they're like, look, Uncle Jim, I can't. I can't like – I go, I can't get pussy. I can't go in talking about rage at a fucking – at a dorm party. They don't want to hear about Rage Against the Machine.

They might break up and they're having problems or, you know, Judas Priest, you know, just lost Rob Halford. They don't give a shit. So I'm going to start liking Snoop. Not even he's flying the plane around he's doing they started liking snoop you know and i'm like all right i'll let you go i go you'll come back yeah at some point but i'll let you go because i understand you you want to get you want to get chicks yeah we need more of that uh collision course jay-z lincoln park type shit let's all just fuse it get everyone together the genres i know that'd be would be amazing. I know. Yeah.

I mean, they did it at the Grammys. They did the DMC Aerosmith thing. Maybe that revamps the whole culture. Maybe. Let's hope so. Check out Jim's new podcast, Everybody is Awful, Except You, presented by Barstool Sports.