The Ariel Helwani Show - Ariel responds to Dana White, Julianna Peña, Timeless Toni Storm, Torrie Wilson, On The Nose, more

Episode Date: September 17, 2025

Ariel Helwani opens the show with a tribute to combat sports writer and friend Thomas Gerbasi, who passed away (00:22).The Boys in the Back join Ariel to answer On The Nose questions, touching on Dana White’s recent comments about Ariel on "Impaulsive," Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, Sean O’Malley’s next fight, and more (20:10).WWE Hall of Famer Torrie Wilson reflects on her career, including getting her start after being recognized by Kevin Nash, being intimidated in the early days, the development of her character, what it’s like to be backstage now, her dedication to fitness, and more (1:01:11).Julianna Peña is back to talk about her recovery from back surgery, joining the Real American Freestyle broadcast team, focusing on her MMA comeback, wanting to attend the White House card, and more (1:58:45).AEW superstar Timeless Toni Storm makes her debut on the show, discussing her wrestling journey starting at 13 years old, AEW going up against WWE, having the most fun at this point of her career, some of her notable rivalries, and more (2:31:52).Ariel and The Boys come back to react to the heated Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn 2 press conference, Jake Paul vs. Gervonta "Tank" Davis fight moving to Miami, and answer more On The Nose questions (2:59:03).

Hey everyone, Ariel here. We have a great show lined up for all of you today. Obviously, the intro isn't the same, and the reason it is not the same is because I don't feel like hearing any music right now. I don't think it would be appropriate to play the same kind of intro. The usual intro. Last night, I got awful news. Awful news that has left me feeling empty, that has left me feeling heartbroken, that has left me feeling very sad, confused, all those things and more. I was sitting here, I think around a week ago or so, maybe it was two weeks ago, Max, you'll remember if you watch the show on a weekly basis, and I was telling you all about this book, and I was telling you about this book that

was being released and written by my very good friend, Tom Gerbacy, who I've known for well over a decade. I told you that if he touches it, if he is involved, if he collaborates in it, if he writes it, it's worth your time. I was telling you that it's a fantastic gift, perhaps for the holiday season, and that I also said he is one of the nicest human beings that I've ever met in any walk of life, not just media, not just journalism, just a good human being. And now here I am telling you all that my friend Tom Dr. Basie has passed away. And that is surreal for me. That is, I can't even believe I'm saying that. Found out about this last night. Spoke to some friends about it. spoke to some

friends about him. And then the Boxing Writers Association of America tweeted it out just a few minutes ago. And for some reason, seeing that almost hit me harder than last night because now it feels real, there's the tweet right over there. this is a very hard thing to talk about because this has been a very sad week you know the last couple of days we've been talking about rickie hatton i told you multiple times on the program that i didn't know rickie hatton i wasn't a friend of his i interviewed him once for 30 minutes of course known about him and i watched him and um i admired him and i read about him and I and I and I loved his his message and his story and it was heartbreaking because

you saw you saw how much he meant to a lot of people like Adam Smith like Tris Dixon who have done such a great job among many others of eulogizing and remembering him but I didn't have the same type of reaction because he wasn't my friend now here I am on Wednesday talking about my friend and I am not the only one hurting far from the only one there are a ton of tributes and we'll go through those in a minute rolling in because this just came out like 30 minutes ago but let me just tell you a little bit about our friend tom jrbacy because I say our because I know Rick was very close to him and loved him as well and worked with him from the PR side of things my friend john beer who I talk about a lot loved him and worked with him I spoke to him about this

yesterday as well, you hear this a lot about a lot of people, but please believe me when I tell you, everyone, everyone loved Tom Derbacy. No one had even a remotely negative thing to say about Tom Derby. Tom Derby is, was a longtime boxing writer and MMA writer. He's been covering boxing for decades. He's been the editor of UFC.com for as long as I've been covering the sport. When I first started to get into the media room, getting credentials, he was without a doubt the nicest and most welcoming person. And I knew of him because I saw his byline because I've read his work and I couldn't

believe how nice this guy was to me. And for no reason. We were not colleagues in the sense that we didn't work for the same outlet. But that's just who he was. The very first preview show that I did for AOL Fan House, UFC 104 at the Staples Center in October of 2009, I had one guest, and it was Tom Jerbacy. And we did it from the media room. And I was so excited to do that and to do that with him because I respected him so much and I knew that I was just going to be in good, safe hands

because I was very nervous before it. The thing about Tom was yes, he was the editor of UFC.com but he looked out for all of us. Anytime something happened in my life and I know I could speak for many others when I say this, he would always reach out.

Offer advice, offer help, offer guide, guidance, offer support, good times and bad times. When there's a big announcement about a career change, he's right there. When crap hit the fan, he's right there. I was just going through our old DMs, like from back of the day, because in the last decade plus we would text, but I'm going back to like 09, 10. The first DM that I got from him was him, and it took me back to a time. I think the fight was like, if my memory serves me correct, I think. it was like UFC 130 something, December of 2010. I couldn't, there was a storm and he was trying to

find me another flight back home. And he's like, I don't work with this guy. That's just who he was. He was always looking out for others. Every birthday, he would text you. Like I said, every announcement, he would be right there. And then he would always ask how you're doing. And then he would always ask how your kids are doing. And then he would always ask about other people that you work with. How's this guy, that guy and then he would show you a picture of his kids and his grandkids. I was reading a text from him yesterday. We tend to do this, I think, as human beings, you kind of go through old messages and he was telling me that the life hack that he had stumbled across was that being a grandparent was better than being a parent because now you have the wisdom of parenthood and now

you could just enjoy your kids' kids. And he was so happy with his kids. I love the fact that the picture that the Boxing Writers Association of America chose of him was, was him and his granddaughter. He was so, so happy to be living, to be doing this job. He had just won the 2024 Boxing Writers Association of America Fleischer Award, which is for excellence in boxing journalism. He had not lost his fastball, even, you know, in his 50s. And he had not lost his his appreciation for life because over the last, I don't know, five, six, seven years, he really started to look after his health, running a couple of marathons, New York City marathons, planning to do it again in November, playing soccer all the time. That was Tom,

and he would always be very self-deprecating. He would always make fun of himself, but he was always out there living. And look, always freaking smiling. I can't believe Tom Derbacy isn't here, man. I cannot believe Tom Derbacy isn't here. I love this guy and everyone loved him. And I'm not going to say that like, you know, I would go to his house every Tuesday, but I swear to God I was just texting with him last week about this, about this book. Look at this thing. It just came out. It's a beautiful book. And I'm so happy that he was able to do this. Maybe this will be a part of his legacy. I just want to stress to all of you how good that guy was and the kind of light, the kind

of soul, the kind of mench, truly that he was. Wrote amazing profiles, amazing stories, didn't want to be a part of any BS, didn't want to be a part of any drama, just wanted to do good work and cover combat sports the right way. And so I mentioned some of the reaction to him. Lou DeBella posting, you know, a reaction. I am crushed right now. Writer editor, Tom Jervasey, has been a trusted friend and someone I've admired for decades.

We just cut up on life reminisced and commiserated on boxing for over an hour on Saturday. He was a great, and we were talking about life being good, and now he is gone. He was a talent, a total professional, a funny, kind, and honest guy, great husband, and grandfather, there's not a negative word I can say or I've heard said about Tom Jerbesi. He's so right. He is so right. Please pray for the family he was so proud of

and leaves behind too soon. This week has hit hard. I will miss another friend Fly with Angels Tommy. This crazy man, it's crazy. I can't believe that. Some other tweets, Mark Romundi, RIP, Tom Jervasie. This is a hard one to write. Tom was a legendary combat sports writer, editor,

and friend to everyone in the space. not to mention a mentor to many he was genuinely wonderful human being who shared his love for combat sports through his writing today's an unbelievably sad day it's really any other tweets i know chuck chuck wrote a great story on him for espa dot com when he came out with his ufc encyclopedia like in 2011 is even bigger than this book Chuck wrote a really great story that I reread last night The Combat World lost a beautiful soul and Tom Jerbasi who gave me my real start in MMA writing and who has been there for me every step of the way such a loss

That's UFC Encyclopedia Still holds up That's from 2011 There's a gentleman from boxing scene who wrote a I thought a really on point tweet about him David Greisman And he really I thought he summed

him up really well. I always admired how Tom Derbacy did it all. He was a prolific writer and a talented storyteller. He was so generous with his time, advice and support. He lived a full life outside of work and he was such a good family man, husband, father, and doting grandfather. And I'm not the only one, like, look, you see it. I'm not the only one who feels this way, clearly. That's awful, man. It's awful. Can't believe it. proud new yorker proud combat sports journalist proud father husband grandfather proud soccer player one time i was looking for a brazil away jersey for my son and i knew he was like in the soccer scene here and i swear to god he must have sent me like

20 tweets on places where i could find this uh this blue jersey for my son son Walter like he really wanted me to find it I couldn't find it and I knew he knew of the stores and the scene and so he uh I mean he was sending me links I was going through this yesterday he was sending me links I was like look at this guy this is exactly who Tom is and so it's it's an awful it's an awful it's an awful day it really is it's been an awful week it's an awful, awful day. So perhaps if you want to learn more about the great writer that was Tom Derbacy and trust me when I say the great human being as well,

maybe you consider getting this book boxing the greatest fighters or the 100 greatest fighters. Maybe you consider getting the UFC Encyclopedia. And maybe you consider reading some of his work on UFC.com from over the years because if they fought for the UFC over the past 15, 16, 17 years, Tom wrote about them and he wrote about them in a beautiful way. And especially when I was working on the Fox broadcast, I would tell him this all the time. His profile pieces were invaluable because you would learn about some of these up-and-comers. You know, he had a team of guys who wrote for him. And that was the other

thing. He was such a mentor to everyone. He always looked out for everyone. I can, I can assure you that every media member in MMA and boxing that is, that is still doing the job and even not doing the job, has a Tom Derbacy helped me story with so-and-so, gave me advice, looked after me, was so, always had that smile on his face, was, was so ready and willing to, to help me out with a contact, to help me out with any type of advice. And so he had a whole army of youngsters and of veterans who worked for him at UFC.com. And he's been around the boxing game for even longer than that with boxing scene and Max boxing and the Ring magazine. It's just an awful day.

And I don't even know how to go from this to anything else other than to try to convince myself in telling myself that Tom loved. Tom loved fighting he loved storytelling and I guarantee you he would be the kind of guy because he would always who would be like yo man suck it up and move on he would be that guy so he would text me right now and be like you know like when I was going through my tweets and he's like you know at UFC 199 he's like you starting trouble again kid to hang in there that was the kind of guy that he was but he was never afraid to reach out he was you know it was never

oh you know I'm a UFC guy I'm not going to reach out none of that bullshit none of that he was just a good dude man Rick you want to say anything about Tom yeah I think you you said all that very well

just somebody who I dealt with a lot as you mentioned when I was working on the PR side of things you'd somebody I'd pitch stories to regularly whether it be across boxing, MMA, anything else, but fans of the boys in the back will definitely notice,

especially if you go back, that every single time we had an interview guest on, I would mention Tom Jrbasi because his profiles, as Ariel said, were like the big, the best resource you could have, the heartbeat for, especially the UFC fighters,

but all of combat sports. And beyond that, you know, that's the work part of it. That's the job part of it. but beyond that all the things that Ariel said about him as a man and as a human being like you will not find a soul alive who knew Tom that would say a bad word about him I'd go so far as to say even beyond not saying a bad word about him you won't find somebody who doesn't have glowing praise for Tom like that is the type of guy that he has anybody who he interacted with he was such a warm soul such a bright light and made your life better and he was giving and always willing to hear people out and give them his his time. So the world lost an incredible one. Condolences to his family. And, uh, yeah, unfortunate, super unfortunate and a reminder of, uh, why we have to value this time that we have. Bruce Buffer, very well said. Bruce Buffer has been, um, around Tom for a very long time.

He also tweeted very sad to hear about my longtime friend and coworker, Tom Derbacy passing away. He was a fine man and journalist beloved by all his friends and coworkers in the world of sports, boxing, MMA, and UFC. may he rest in peace there's probably more um i hope that and i know that the ufc will pay tribute to him and um i don't know i i wish there was a i know the boxing writers well i wish there was an mhmay writers association and we can pay tribute to him and i don't know i know there's a press conference now in london i hope they pay tribute to him as well on every every fight card this weekend and for the rest of the month time

pays tribute to him because the guy just did it the right way and he was just a good good good human being better than good he was a fantastic human being and uh it's it's it's amazing to for us to say like no one said a bad word about him because we were just saying that about rickie or at least hearing other people say that about rickie but it's it's the truth there's really no other way to say it everyone loved him everyone admired him everyone has a great tom jrbasi's story and appreciated him and um he will be sorely missed May he rest in peace. May his memory be a blessing.

And we will do our best to cover fight sports the way Tom Derbacy did. And yeah, we'll never forget him. We'll take a quick break and we'll be right back after this. Okay, back on the show. And thank God for the breaks. I knew they would come in handy at some point. Appreciate everyone sticking with us.

And we're going to do our best to you know have a good day and and yeah and and and talk about stuff and I know what we you know we're an escape for everyone as well and honestly this is an escape for me because I'd probably just be staring at my phone if I wasn't doing the show today and yeah so I'm grateful to be here I'm grateful to be with my friends with our colleagues and yeah to just to just be able to to do this as a blessing and and it is a reminder that All of this is so fleeting, and all of this can end in an instance. And, yeah, I'm sure someone is going to ask me on On the Nose about yesterday,

about the Dana clip, and those sentiments kind of come into play. I will tell you about today's lineup. In about 40 minutes' time, we're going to be joined by the WWE Hall of Famer, Tori Wilson. I've said several times on the show that I've wanted to have her on. I'm very much looking forward to that interview. She's a legend. She's someone who came into the wrestling game in the late 90s, then really, you know, exploded in the early 2000s

and sort of disappeared a little bit from wrestling and a slowly but surely come back, someone who talks openly about mental health and depression and ups and downs and anxiety. And so I think that this is going to be a really great chat, and I really appreciate her coming on. at 3 o'clock. Giuliana Pena is going to join us.

She has some information to share. She's been through a lot as of late. So it'll be great to catch up with the Venezuelan Vixen. And then at 3.30, perhaps the best character in pro wrestling today. The one that a lot of people are saying is just hitting it out of the ballpark right now.

It's a timeless Tony Storm, who is in some people's eyes, the face of AEW, and in some people's eyes, the best women's wrestler right now in some people's eyes, the best character in wrestling. wrestling right now. I don't know if she's going to come to us as her character. K-fabe,

no K-fabe. I'm looking forward to the experience, to the journey. Typically, I don't like in-character interviews. I don't know what to expect. They haven't told me. But if you know anything about her, she is a trip. She is very talented, very funny, and I think it's going to be fun. So a fun lineup, and of course, on Wednesdays, you know we like to shoot. You know we like to answer your questions. And so without further ado, let us answer some of those questions. with Fluffy out of the RDR fight, does Imov get the title shot now? Yes, we talked about this yesterday.

I think there's no doubt about it. Unless he gets hurt, I can't see any scenario in which he doesn't get it. And I'm okay with that. And I would have been okay with it if they gave it to him after the win over Caiobahalio. The one thing I said once again was I thought the door was left open. It didn't get slammed shut on the October 18th fight.

But now that that fight has changed, I think it is slam shut. One interesting thing that has developed over the last couple days or so, you'll recall when Paolo Costa was on the show, he implied that he wasn't the biggest fan of Caiobahalio. And you'll recall when Carlos Pratchez was on the show, he implied that some Brazilians were sort of celebrating

the demise of the fighting nerds and them stumbling. And Kyle stumbling, and I'm pretty sure he was referring to Paulo Costa and so perhaps that fight is developing in front of our eyes. Johnny Levine, what's up, Ariel and Crew? Curious what your thoughts are on a potential Marab versus Pantosia's superfight. There aren't really any threats to either of them at Bantamweight or flyweight.

After Marab dominates Sanhagen and Pantosia submits Van, don't you think it should be the next fight up? Also, how do you think that fight plays out? I really don't think that that's a fight either of them are. all that interested in. I think both of them really like their spots. I think both of them are happy to remain dominant champions for the foreseeable future. And yeah, I don't think that's a thing that the UFC is trying to do. For one, I would hate to see either guy vacate their title right now because that seems to be the thing. And I still think that there are names at 35 for Marab and there are names at 25 for Pantosia.

So, you know, Charles Johnson is coming up, and you've got, you know, guys like Al-Bazi out there that he hasn't fought him, and Al-CAP, who hasn't fought him, who knows what goes on with Tim Elliott here. There's enough at 25, and there's enough at 35. So I don't think that's a fight that the UFC is interested in, and quite frankly, I don't think that the fighters are really that interested in it. They've been asked enough, and they kind of seem to like each other and like where they're at in their careers.

Kevin Lep, who would win John Jones at 37 or D.C. at 30? Is John Jones 37 now? 38. Why do you say 37? Just a random? I think that was maybe the age that they were when they fought? Opposite? Was DC older than him?

37, John Jones 30. Jones on the gear or not on the gear? No, I'm kidding. But is he... I think DC, am I crazy? DC almost beat him. UFC 214 or 17, whatever it was, the one in Anaheim, the second fight,

almost beat him. He was looking good. There was a point in that fight in the rematch where DC was like, he was doing the he was doing like the Ali shuffle out there he was feeling himself

and then he got caught I can't abide by this no you don't think so he was not winning that fight what he wasn't winning that fight serious you're talking about DC and Jones

John Jones come on man do you think there's do you think there's score cards two score cards I'm sure there were but

score cards show close oh here oh it was 214 okay okay okay Yeah, tell me what the scorecards were Okay, what did they put there Everything on it? Okay, what is this? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, here it is.

Okay, Cormier, okay, so according to one judge? Yeah. That looks like an 18, but it's not. Okay, so what is going on here? One judge has it? Okay, one judge had it 20 to 18 for Jones. Yep.

One judge had it, what's 19 to 19 and the other judge had a 19 to 19 and he lost in the third round he also like hadn't fought when he was 30 right Daniel Cormier? Yeah, Cornea wasn't an MMA I think the question is just like if he was the younger guy

would he have been able to do it? He made it complicated age, you know what I mean? We're digging into the records here. But I mean... 31, different story. That's a good point. But it was... D.C., I mean...

Very close fight. Two judges, Chris Lee, Michael Bell had it 1919, Gilaireme Bravo, sounds like a fake name, had it a 20 to 18. And then he got finished. But by the way, as longtime fans of the MMA hour will know and this program, like, nobody is a bigger fan of D.C. Who was beating the drum when he was in Strike Force that I said D.C. is going to be the man to beat John Jones.

I just, he was just short. In any other error where John Jones doesn't exist, I think Daniel Cormier is looked at as one of the real goats of this sport, like in the Silva GSP Demetrius class but he ran into the goat. What's interesting, looking at it DC was 38

so it was the exact same age as Jones as now. Yeah. Didn't he say 37? I don't know. These are random numbers. I mean, it's the same. Oh, the guy just pulled random numbers out of his asking? I don't know. It was 38 versus 30. I know. It's very weird. It's very weird. I'm going to go

I'm going to go. DC was truly great. DC was truly great. If there was a seven-year age gap and D.C. was the younger one, I think he wins the fight. It's possible. He debuted at 31, just for the record. Yeah, the whole thing is weird. Turkish Royal One. Hi, team.

Why does it feel like there's no buzz behind Eubank Ben 2? Did it just get announced? I find out about it from Eddie on your show. And that first one was one of the best fights of the year. Is there no intrigue this time around? Maybe the best thing to do is to answer the question in like an hour. And by the way, could we keep an eye on the face-off shenanigans?

because they're, I think they're, what's that? Isn't that like the case with the first one as well? It kind of crept up on us. You know? They had the first, the first presser had the eggs, right? The second one the next day had like the egg, you know, like, detector thing. They had like a funny thing.

And then it kind of just, and then it just kind of happened, Fight Week, and then it exploded on Fight Night. But two things from there. One, one, when you say us, Pizzi, don't. obviously don't lump me into that because I'm not included in that. And two, I think it is fair what this person is saying. The back and forth, the Chris coming out and saying Connor's not fighting him,

Connor coming out and saying Chris is not fighting him, it kind of like made this feel a whole hum. The announcement flew a little bit under the radar. I think starting today, it will start to ramp up and people will get excited again because that was the fight of the year or one of the fights of the year. Now the one thing that they are going to have to combat is like you couldn't dream of a better fight night than that one. No, you can't top that one.

Reveal to the walkout, to the fight. So, like, there's going to be a little Home Alone 2, Home Alone 1 action going on here. 100%. And Home Alone 2 was a bang. I was going to say, if they can recreate a home alone two, it's going to be a success. Greatest sequel of all time.

What's the greatest? Godfather 2. Godfire 2. Lord of the Rings. Godfather 2. Lord of the Rings 2. I love the book. Blade 2. Lord of the Rings too.

So you all have... Definitely not Lord of the Rings. You all have different answers. I actually have a different. Oh, fuck, that's the answer. What is it? Terminator 2, Judgment Day. I know where you're going, Ariel.

What am I going to say? What am I going to say? Happy Gilmore, too. No. That's a good shout. When they make Billy Madison, too. Not a good job. Back to the future two.

Thank you, Jarden. Back to the Future 2 was a great one. Now out of those. Yeah, yeah. Who had the best third? Ooh. Blade 3. Blades three.

The turn of the king. Godfather 3. Godfather 3 is shit. Blade 2 and Blade 2. Look at him. He froze up. The mom got him. Terminator 2.

Rocky? Terminator 2 is the actual answer, though. The gap between Terminator 1 and Terminator 2 is a chasm. Can I tell you as a kid? I think I've talked about this before. As a kid, I hated Back to the Future 3. As an adult, I like it a lot more. Filmed at the same time as Back to the Future 2.

Oh, you know why I know that. I think I've told this. When you're at the theater for Back to the Future 2 as a kid, they played the promo at the end. And then it ended with to be concluded. And I remember vividly turning to my dad and saying, what does concluded mean? What does that mean?

I didn't understand what that word meant. Oh, you literally didn't know what the word meant. Yeah, yeah. So I was like, is there a new movie out to play right now? Like, what is this? What are we watching right here? It was crazy. I was probably nine years old or something like that.

Did they drop the third one like a year later? Maybe less? Yeah, sick. I don't know. Has any movie ever done that? Drop the trailer for the next one in the same viewing as the previous one, if you know what I'm saying?

Nah, man. They didn't have the balls back there. One could argue that the Marvel credit scenes are kind of that, right? Like, that's kind of... Six months later? Balls playing that trailer. You're gonna really...

Get the girls. Say it again? Say it again? November 1989 to May 1990. Wow. Baddy short. That's sick. That's sick. That is short. That's how you do it.

I think that might be my favorite trilogy in all of movies. That's Lord of the Ranks. You know what? I've never seen it. Doi Hart, very good trilogy And not for nothing

Like as great as alien is Aliens is a banger Like I wouldn't say it's better Yeah But it's a really good fucking sequel Nah but T2 You had it T2 definitely is

Better Terminator 2 is good All to say No not at all Trash Never seen it Those are good The whole series It's pretty good

Movie confessionaire I haven't seen Pirates The Currieve Or Or Rocky Yeah Seen all the creeds Haven't seen the Rock

Yeah my kids were watching Creed. They liked it. They went straight to Creed. They skipped Rocky and went straight to Creed. They actually told me, funny enough, they were like, who's that fighter? Who's that fighter who supports Everton? Who's that fighter that supports Everton? I was like, Molly McCann? You know about Molly McCann? They're like, no, no, no. The guy who's in Creed. I was like, oh, Tony Bellew? Oh, Tony Bellew? Wow. By the way, I don't think I saw that one. Is Tony Bellew playing himself? Yes. Wow. Come on, Creed. Is he good? Is he good? Yeah, he's great. He's great. He's actually really good. And he plays up being an Everton guy?

No, I don't think the Everton part But he has full Liverpool accent Like, come on, Creed. Have you not seen Creed? I think I saw Creed 1, but I don't remember him being in it. He was in it. Is he in Creed 1 or 2? Possibly both.

I don't recall off the top of my head. Is there three or four Creed? I think three. There's three. The game on the, by the way, on the Oculus, very fun. The Creed game, has anyone played it? Yes, I have played it.

Very, very good graphic. You got the Oculus now? Bro, I got both Oculus. Oh, Occupy. By the way, the Oculus was a godsend during the early days

of the pandemic. Yeah, yeah, we got it early days of the pandemic. Like, my kid, it took up like a week

of their lives and it was a godsend. It was a nice. I was playing a Game Boy during the banden. I was on the virtual boy. Times are tough. Charmander.

Isn't that an anime? That's a Pokemon. Pokemon, yeah. Why in the world is the UFC now making Garbrand versus O'Malley?

I don't get it. I have to be honest with you? Garbrand versus O'Malley? I kind of love that fight. Oh, stop. Cody Garbrant's really had a

renaissance this week. Aaron's Crawford, giving him love, calling him the best box in the UFC. Now we're calling for what, why is that a bad fight?

It's a big swing for him and it's a comeback fight for O'Malley. Two big names. Clearly one is still beloved. Shout out to Terrence. Cody's not in that position to fight Sean O'Malley.

You think Sean O'Malley smokes him? What's wrong with Yes? What's wrong with a comeback fight? That's not a real fight. fight for Sean O'Malley, though. I tell you, that fight gets a lot more buzz than O'Malley versus...

Yon? Same amount of buzz. What? Crazy. Crazy. No, it doesn't. Crazy taste. What?

No, no, no. Cody Garbrand is a, is he a mainstream guy? I mean, like, he's a pretty... He's a former champion and still... It was Cody Garber. An elite fighter. Cody is not that anymore. Yeah.

People love Cody. Yeah, I know, but he's coming off to Aoni Barcellos. I think we do the Yon rematch. You got the history. there, how close the first one? By the way, I'm signing up for that all day. There was another fight that someone said,

Song, Song versus O'Malley, signing up. Now that's a fight. Yeah, let's do that. I'm down for that, O'Malley. Signing up for it all day, the point is, I kind of think it's brilliant matchmaking. I don't think we need to go that far down for Sean. That's where I'm at.

All right. Your mom goes to college, Ariel. One, could we give a bit more attention to On the Nose? It feels like it hasn't been getting as much love lately, and we're seeing fewer questions making it. through. You're right. And that's on me. And I'd like to, I always try to like devote at least an hour to it. Sometimes things happen. And I feel like, you're right, you're right. You're 100% right. Can I also just say, I feel like sometimes the questions haven't been great. I feel like at the

beginning, the questions were really good and challenging. And sometimes they're a little bit ho-hum, and there's people asking the same ones over and over and over. But you're right, and I will take that to heart. He also asks another question. I thought that Terrence Croft for an interview was excellent. He was funny and playful while being coy about certain fights. Lining a guest of that caliber right after such a huge event is massive. But I'm curious. Was there a particular guest that first made you stop and think, wow, I've really made it now? Man, I don't know. There's been so many. I'd love to know how many guests have been on the show, period. I mean, The Rock was kind of a big deal. And where is The Rock? I have not heard from him.

Rocky, let's go. When's the, when's the, when's the Rock? release, October 3rd or something? Come on, dog. Finish the story. Full circle. That I made it. I mean, The Rock was a big one. You'd have to go back. You know what was a big one for us? Way back in the day. Rick, do you remember when we had Mike Tyson on? And then we had Dana call in to surprise him?

I do remember that, yeah. That felt big. I mean, we were talking like 11, 2011, something like that. Bader in studio was big. Anderson Silva in studio, like in the AOL days was big. So, yeah, but there's nothing, there's nothing better than the, you know, the feeling of having a guy who just want to fight two days prior on that Monday show. They'll never be a greater buzz than that. And we've had so many of those.

Or someone who was just involved, like, I equinta after the Chabeeb fight, gigantic. Jorge after the Ascran fight. Ascran after that fight on the Monday. like these are memories that I'll forever cherish. Leon after the knockout. Remember that one? Him crying? That was something.

Steve Bouchemi. Ariel, genuine question for you. Why did you decide not to touch on the assassination of Charlie Kirk? I understand he's not in the combat sports world, but there are other people outside the combat sports world you decide to dedicate an hour plus two. Maybe it's a political thing you're trying to avoid, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that stripped down.

It is a father that was murdered in front of his children and the world for an opinion, one that wasn't hateful in any way. Nonetheless, would love to hear your and Rick's thoughts on it as a whole. So, I mean, we didn't necessarily ignore it because we were talking about it in real time. I didn't really touch on it on social media. That was the Wednesday show, and then, you know, my next time on the air was Monday. I will also say, guys, let me know if I'm forgetting. I'm probably forgetting. I don't know of many

non-combat sports people who have passed away that we've devoted an hour or two. Am I forgetting someone in the past? Yeah, I don't recall. Is there anyone we've committed an hour or two? Period. But the point is, honestly, that wasn't...

The reason why I didn't tweet about it or post about it was I was kind of sick over it. And I was... I didn't consume a lot of his content. You would see him from time to time. And, you know, I don't really care about the who's right, who's wrong. To me, it was sickening to see a human being assassinated like that in broad daylight. No one deserves that.

No one who's, you know, trying to make the world a better place. And I do believe that was his intention. He wasn't physically hurting anyone where his opinions. polarizing, sure, but he wasn't hurting anyone, doing any criminal acts, killing anyone. No wife deserves to see her husband get killed like that and suffer this fate. No child deserves to see their parent get killed like that and suffer this fate. And I felt sick over it. And there was a part of me that felt sick over the reaction to it.

and seeing people celebrate and it turning into like another debate and another argument and I didn't want to contribute to that in any way, shape, or form. And I didn't want to use, I didn't want to make it seem like I was trying to like jump on any type of like bandwagon or anything like that. I called a very good friend of mine who I know is a fan of his and I talked to her about it. and that was enough for me. So there was no reason for it. I'm sorry if you felt like I was avoiding it.

I wasn't. I'm not afraid to talk. I'm not afraid of talking about politics because I think it's healthier if we talk about these things. And I love to talk to people who don't feel what I feel, believe. And I actually, as I've come to learn more about him, I respect the fact that he would put himself out there. and debate people. Now you say that and then people will come and be like, was he really debating or was he just trying to browbeat or was he just trying to spread his gospel? Who cares? It doesn't matter anymore. It's a devastating thing. It's a disgusting thing. It's an awful thing. It's

heartbreaking. And ultimately, I just feel like no one deserves that. And then it gets into like, how's Trump dealing with it? It's like, yo man, this is a dad. And by all accounts, he was a really good dad who cared for his kids and cared for his wife and just tried to be a good human being. So yeah, I didn't, I don't know. I felt sick over it. I did. And I wasn't trying to hide from it or not get political or anything like that. You know, we were discussing after the show if it's one of the most visible assassinations in recent memory, obviously JFK is, is you know, I don't even know what the word is, infamous, historic. We went to the museum when we were there in Dallas for the Nate Diaz, Jake Paul fight.

But this is like in like HD, and it's very, very hard to watch. And now, you know, a young man has ruined his life, allegedly. Like, if that's the guy and I don't think he's denying it, he's done. You know, he might get the death penalty. And for what? It was not worth it, obviously. So, yeah, I felt sick. I felt sad.

I felt sad. You know what I always think about in these moments? Not to get too deep on all of you, but I always think about, I always think about the world that my kids are entering. And this is why I'm holding so tightly to the notion that my son doesn't need a phone because I'm so afraid. And I know he has an iPad and his friends have things and I hear them speak and all this stuff.

but like it's, it's, it's very, it's scary that they're entering this world and this stuff is right in their face. I see the way it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, I see what it could do to our feelings, to our emotions, how some can, can get radicalized, how some could feel extremely down little things, like feeling left out, feeling on the outside looking in, um, and then learning about things not in the proper way. Like, it's just all this scary. And I believe social media is a big part of this and a big problem when it comes to all of this. Not to say that people weren't doing horrible things before social media, but, you know, these shootings and stuff like that, it's a lot of people who are angry and then you start to ask yourself why. So anyway, it's sad and, yeah, I just didn't have anything to offer.

Taco Enthusiast. all righty ariel here's the pertinent question that you're likely going to react to anyways i was waiting for one of you on the nose excuse me on the subject of his relationship with you Dana said to Logan i'm upset about it too maybe we should figure this thing out we should probably all get back together so many questions so little on the nose one did you feel that the sentiment was genuine at all what did you feel when Dana asked about you how's he doing that Logan responded with he's upset that the relationship is what it is with the UFC three you stayed in the past that you'll never say never but that it would take a lot to mend the relationship

does this open the door let me know if you need a moderator or a mediator excuse me tacos bridge all divides okay uh yes a lot of people have sent me this clip this is from the impulsive podcast uh shout out to my friends uh Logan P and Mike M and they had Dana White on the show and I didn't see it until no context to Ariel whomever that guy is shout out to him appreciate you posted it after our show yesterday in case you haven't seen it i want to play the clip for you guys and and and i think by playing it it will be a lot easier to respond and react so here it is what if you're the superstar yeah i'm definitely not the superstar you know what i'm saying because it seems like no but listen there's a formula to this stuff yeah and you know that so

that makes you a superstar so when i listen to shit like we have a superstar problem or we have this problem we have that problem my response to that is believe me when i fucking tell you we have no problem but they say more money more problems but it's not even about that it's it's not even about the 7.7 billion it's about now what are we going to do with these unbelievably brilliant and aggressive businessmen that are now getting in to Paramount and CBS. We all get together next week. We have a big conference.

There's 60 of their people and my people getting together, and we're going to start building what the next seven years is going to look like. You know what I mean? When you do what we do here, the money is what happens when you do what you do well. What is going on? Everybody's, and I love as we go into a new deal, and you hear this stuff like and and i would love to hear who the fuck is the guy that's saying oh

they have a they have a superstar problem tell me what fucking genius in the business right and even these boxing guys these boxing guys that i was arguing with 10 years ago where the fuck are they all now i think i think i heard ariel helani say say it was dude not this again but where are all these got boxing guys 10 years ago i'm not trying to start shit He said who? We just got into the last thing with him. How's he doing? He's doing well.

He's doing well. Yeah. He's upset. He's upset that the relationship is what it is with the O.C. Yeah. Yeah. I'm upset about it, too. Well, maybe there's a bridge.

Yeah, maybe we can figure this thing out. Yeah, we should probably all get back together. Okay. So we provided a little bit before that so that you understand the context. They're talking about a lack of superstars. Shout out to Logan. for bringing me up. And yes, I've talked about this,

but every time I do talk about it, I also do say that the UFC is on fire and that it's not washed because the biggest stars, the UFC and Dana White, and they're not going anywhere and witnessed the fact that they've gotten this $7 billion deal

and all this stuff. He probably doesn't know all of that. So, yes, I have said that there's a lack of superstars when you compare it to Ronda, Connor, John, even Chuck, Tito, you know, the million by guys

and gals, those don't exist at the moment. I've also said fight sports are cyclical and just like the heavyweight division sucked 10 years ago and it's great now and it has been great for the last couple of years. Everything light heavyweight was great and now it's not great and heavyweight was great

and now it's not great and lightweight was gone and now it's the hot division. Walter weight wasn't great and now it's great. Everything's cyclical in combat sports. Anyway, we don't have to get into that. So Taco's asking me these questions and he's asking them as if he believes Dana's being sincere. I don't believe that he was being 100% sincere. I believe he was

being sarcastic. And so when I see this, I kind of laugh and say, oh yeah, he's just making a joke. When he says, how's he doing now? In that tone, to me, it comes across as him saying, like, you know, where is that guy? That dude fell off. He's not relevant anymore. I couldn't care less about him. That's the way I interpreted it. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the way I looked at it. Now, I don't feel like anything that he said there was very sincere. I think it was 99.99% sarcastic, if I'm being 100% honest. The one thing that was telling to me or at least jumped out at me was that usually when I'm brought up, he calls me all the names under the sun, right? scumbag, piece of crap this, all these things, right? He'll take his opportunity to take a shot

at me. This time, he just said what you just heard him say. Is that because I'm so irrelevant to him? Maybe. Or is that because he misses me? Maybe. I don't think it's the latter if I'm being 100% honest. But I will repeat what I have said regarding this topic on this show ad nauseum and what I've said on every other show that asked me about him ad nauseum. In my early days, no one was better to me than Dana White. And then it all fell apart in 2016. You know this, right? It's unbelievable that we're approaching 10 years since all of this went down.

And I haven't talked to him since. And when I got to ESPN, I was asked to reach out and extend an aisle branch. And I did. And I sent a text, and nothing came of that. I never got a reply. And so we've never talked. And I've told you about when I've left. when I left ESPN and I got a text and I thought it was him sort of, you know, celebrating that I was leaving.

And it got very contentious and uncomfortable towards the end there. Despite all of that and despite the showtime thing and all this other stuff that has happened over the last 10 years and other stuff that you guys don't even know about that I don't even know if I'll ever talk about if I'm being 100% honest. If someone told me today, hey, you can bury the hatchet, I would do it. And I would only do it not because I want anything, not because I want scoops or exclusives. in that game anymore. I don't even do that. Not because I want interviews or access or anything like that. It's because, as I'm not just saying it today, life is too short. And let's be honest, Dana White is more important in my world than I am in his world. And what I mean by that is Dana White is the most important person in the world of MMA and maybe soon in boxing. So we have to

cover him. I always joke. I feel like I have a PhD in data because I've watched so much of his interviews. You have to do it. He's the most important person. Again, it goes back to like the platforming thing and all that. Like, I have to be able to compartmentalize my feelings and cover him as an entity, cover him as the most powerful, important person in MMA, and that's who he is, and perhaps soon to be in boxing as well. But he goes on his merry way with or without me, obviously. I'm very well. I'm very well aware of that. I don't think any different. But if there was an opportunity to shake hands and be like, look, there was once a time

where we were exchanging pictures about our kids and grew pretty close. Yeah, sure, I would like that just for my heart, just for my soul. Because I believe that holding grudges and having beef, like, I believe that's a cancer. I believe that's a cancer to your body. There's people that I don't like. There's people who I think have wronged me, and there's probably people who think that I have not been kind to them or treated them well.

And if all those people walked in here, I don't think that there would be a single exception that I would say I don't want to talk to that person and at least try to get to a point where we could be cordial, especially if we live in the same world, reside in the same world, and are a part of the same small community, if you get what I'm saying. And so, no, I wasn't doing backflips or, you know, cartwheels there. I think he was being sarcastic. I think it was his way of saying, you know, how's that dude doing? You know, he's irrelevant.

We're doing just fine in case you're wondering. We're doing better than ever in case you're wondering in all facets of the game, whether it's the work, whether it's the compensation, anything you want to talk about. We're doing way better than we were back at ESPN. I can assure you of that. And we're doing other things as well. And I don't need to go through the resume. so in case you're wondering whether or not we have fallen off I feel confident in saying we

haven't but that's where I think he was coming from you know because I've seen that response regarding other people before and I've heard that before and so yeah that's that's my that's my basic response to all this like I I don't know if Taco was joking here but I think he got it all wrong if I'm being 100% honest I think he got it all wrong now he asked in question three, you've stayed in the past that you'll never say never, but that it would take a lot to mend the relationship. No, I've not said that. I've said it would take a lot for me to go back to UFC events. The relationship is a conversation in my opinion. And I am not holding out hope. I believe right now that it will never get fixed. I'm sorry to say. And I will say

this, I appreciate the tweets and the text about it and the sentiment, because I've seen a lot of the tweets where people are like, this would be amazing, this would be great. We miss the old interviews and the interactions and all this stuff. Please, please, please. The MMA world needs it. It doesn't need it. I don't think that highly of myself. But I appreciate the sentiment and I appreciate the wanting of it. Very much so. It means a lot. It makes me feel good that people care. But there is not any part of me that is holding out hope or that believes, and perhaps I'll be proven otherwise, that this is in the works or that that was the sentiment that he was trying to convey or that this is around the corner or that this could happen even a couple of years down

the line. I just don't see it. I don't. Yeah, I don't see it happening because there have been opportunities for it to happen rather easily and quickly over the last few years. And when those didn't happen. It was in my best interest for it to happen during the ESPN deal because I was, you know, when I was there, because I lost out on opportunities there too. And I was sort of like boxed out. And that sucked. And that's part of the reason why I wanted to leave because I felt like I couldn't progress. And I was, I was soulless. And so if it didn't happen then when we were sort of in the same playpen, if you will, I don't see a world where it happens now. I'm sorry. And so I'm sorry for those that interpreted it in a different way and felt like it was sincere.

Does anyone disagree with me? Does anyone think it was sincere? No, it's definitely sarcastic. Yeah. It is an improvement, though. That would probably be the only thing, right? The improvement is that he didn't take a shot and insult me. It was just sort of a like, a let's move on from the conversation.

Maybe I don't want to give him any fodder. Yeah, you know, getting older. It's positive. It's positive. You think that's positive? I think it's better than what it was. Yeah, I do. What's the go-to, scumbag?

Scumbag, low-life, piece of... None of that was said, you know what I mean? No, I know, I know. I guess if we're looking at this over-line... How's Ariel getting on? You know? I don't think it's the how's Ariel getting on. You see...

Make a quote card, and it's a whole different thing. Put a quote card up. How is he doing? He's doing great, he's upset about the UFC relationship. I'm upset about it too. Yeah. Maybe we should get the band back together. Oh, when you do it like that,

it's fantastic you know what i actually uh i'm i'm upset about it too uh yeah yeah i've been thinking maybe maybe we should get the band back together it's all the way you deliver it right it is and the delivery that i heard there was not the same sly smile yeah they could have thinking back on good times you think so you think he was reminiscent i appreciate the positivity here guys i wasn't expecting this i'll up old dw come on let's get him on the horn i don't think it was drenched in sarcasm. Not that my opinion matters. Are Pat's playing the bills this season? They are, of course, twice. Well, that's

the message. That's when the message happens. You think I send him a text? Shall we? That Drake May is looking good, mate. Yeah. I think you ran out a message on the Jumbotron at Foxborough when he's there. Put your name on the octagon and say, you back?

Show up to a press conference and ask a question. Show up to the HQ. not for nothing an old interview with Arilyn Dana would be fucking fire box office

pay per view show yeah show up to a presser and yeah just with the boombox Dana how you doing how you've been

it's nice to see you again I've been good how about that Drake May no you know the what's the movie with the boom box oh yeah do the right thing

no the one with say anything God's the one with John Cusack where he stands outside the room where he's eyes is playing

it's not high fidelity oh god Titanic yes you know the one it's say anything I said anything absolutely

I said that already I said that right I said say anything I'm giving your flowers twice had to say it uh the

Jordan and say anything John Cusack and say anything John Hughes movie right I mean Logan really throwing me under the bus there but I mean come on did he threw you under the bus

well he's like who's the idiot yeah who's the idiot that says it I know I actually think I heard Ariel why do you say that No, in the face that he made, too. Okay, but in Logan's...

He's like, I think it's all all right. In Logan's defense, he was... Dana was like, who's the fucking idiot that would say this? And then Logan's like, no, no, it's not idiots who are saying this. I heard Ariel say this. Okay, you know what? That is the logic there. So maybe the interpretation on my end?

No, no, no. Dana was fully sarcastic. He hates you. None, no, no, no. Bro, bro. You're too positive here. The Logan side, though, was trying to say, no, no, it's not stupid people saying this.

There is a smart person named Ariel Hwani who is in the business who has said this. D. W. What's the line? Come on down. Like punk in Triple H. Hell has frozen over. Me and D.W. in the office.

The point. What's the line? Plus 50K. Plus 50K line? I'll happen. I change you believe it will happen. In the office, two cool pairs of Nike's. We do a whole thing. F at Friday.

Friday's over. My favorite. What do we do? I could come back. Is the entrance into the heart power slap? Do we cover power slap? Is that the entrance? I'll take that hit.

The older he gets, the more of scary gets. I'll let him slap me. Listen, jokes aside, jokes aside, life is too short. And life is too short on both ends of the spectrum. I think life is too short for these grudges, but I also think life is too short to allow this to consume my soul because, you know, I maintain, look, we didn't see eye to eye on the way things were going. It's always brought up UFC one and the issue started long before that, long before that.

That was the final nail in the coffin. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, if you will. And so it was developing for quite some time, six, seven months or so. But I never did anything wrong. the revisionist history is inaccurate was just doing my job God information was breaking news and was young and was feeling

some sort of way and wanted to fight back and fight back the only way I know how to fight back which is do better work, do more work like I was taking off the Showtime thing and I said all right we're going to get exclusives with Connor and Floyd and we're going to cover this fight better than anyone and I feel like we did that

taking off Fox being the insider all right, I'm going to be the best insider that I could be. I'm going to get every single story out there. And I think that I did that, but I don't do that anymore. And times have changed, life has changed. A lot has changed for the both of us. The state of the UFC is different. The state of the company is different.

The state of my career is different. There's a lot that has changed. So, again, not holding out hope. Appreciate the guy is bringing me up. I think he was being sarcastic, if I'm being a thousand percent honest with you. appreciate the the lack of insults. And most importantly, I appreciate everyone who sent it to me and who commented, who said, I would love for this to happen. I want this to happen. I'm rooting for this to happen. I would love to see this, materialize. Let us see, my friends. Let us see.

Let us see. But yes, I do believe life is too short for all of this. All right. We'll put a pin. We only got through eight questions. We went a little long. Yeah, that is. tough. We went a little bit long on some of the stuff, but obviously a tough morning. I'll get to more on the back end of the show. So stay tuned for that. Thank you to everyone. I do agree with that one guy who wrote in and said we haven't done our job in this particular segment as well or maybe as thorough as back in the day. And so I'm taking that to heart and we'll get to those. For now, though, let's go to our first guest of the day. And if you've been watching the show for quite some time, You know that I have said time and again on my bucket list.

There aren't that many names left. And I don't necessarily love the word bucket list, but it's the best way to describe it. You know, on the wish list, if you will, of people who are left in the world of MMA, boxing, pro wrestling. There aren't that many names left, and we're very grateful and appreciative for this. I would always say I would love to have this guest on.

And part of the reason why I would love to have this guest on is because I believe that she has a great backstory. She's very open and honest. and there's a lot of great stories to be told and lessons to be learned from the things that she has experienced. Back in the early 2000s, let's be honest,

if you were a pro wrestling fan, you were either a Sable guy, you were either a Trish Stratus guy, you were an Alita guy, you were a Stacey Keebler guy, or you were a Tori Wilson guy. Now, you could have been a fan of all of them, which you probably were,

if you were a wrestling fan back there, but you had, you know, your top. You know, you were in one camp or the other. I was an unabashed Tori Wilson guy. She was my favorite. And that's why I always wanted to talk to her. And you remember, I was with Maven here in studio a couple of weeks ago. And I told him about the time that I saw him at the WrestleMania 18 fan access and took that picture with him.

I was also waiting in line to meet some of the other guys. And I waited in the Tori Wilson line for a while. And then it got cut off and the time expired. and thus my big break was not to be. It did not materialize. And so without further ado, some 23 years later, we say hello to the one and only, the WWE Hall of Famer, the inimitable.

Tori Wilson, there she is. Hello, Tori. How are you? Hi. Thank. I'm good. How are you? I'm doing great. It's so great to have you on the show. This is very, very exciting. Thank you. Thank you. It's good to be here.

Good to be with you. And it's an honor to have been a Tori Wilson. Yes. You are a Tori Wilson, and I was a Tori Wilson guy. Yes, yes, yes, exactly. I knew what you were trying to say. Great setup, by the way. Are you in your actual gym here, or is this a fake background?

Yes, we're having our air conditioning units replaced today, so that's the only quiet plates in the house. Okay, well, this is kind of fitting for your personality. That's a great garage. Shout out to you. It's a great-looking space, but we know how into all this stuff you are, the fitness world. How are you doing, Tori? How is everything? How is life? How would you describe life at this stage? Man, it just keeps getting better and better for me. I feel like just this year, well, the past few years, I've kind of stepped into my confidence more. I just feel more at ease with life. I'm not trying to compete with the rat race. And I'm just more just trying to enjoy.

joy who I am and the people around me. How did that happen? You say that, but how does that actually happen? Well, it happens with a lot of hard inner work and past turmoil that I obviously got through. I am a big proponent on the crap that we go through really helps us get stronger and become happier in the end if we listen and pay attention and learn. and find the nuggets from it that we're supposed to get, the wisdom. And I have made some good choices.

I made a good choice with the love of my life that I've married six years ago. And I've kind of set myself up to be in a good spot. Congratulations on that. That's amazing to hear. And the reason why I appreciate you bringing that up is because I feel like you're one of those people. You're a public person, but you're not afraid to talk about the high moments and especially the low moments. be open about some of your struggles and whatnot. That in itself takes some courage. And I don't think that you are always willing to do that. How come you feel the need to do that? Or maybe I should

say the, you know, the comfort in doing that because I do see you doing that a lot. And it makes, I think, others feel better. Not that you're going through some tough stuff, but that it's okay to go through tough things and come out better. Yeah. I mean, I understand. It can be scary to put yourself out there and just speak your truth. But I know there are a lot of people in this world and that have, you know, that feel like they're alone in what they're going through. And it's so easy to pop onto social media and think that everybody's got their crap put together and they have a perfect life. And I think it's frustrating to see that. Like, even for me, when I see perfectness all the time. You know, you can't help but start to question where you are in life. Um, so, you know,

really that's the answer. And I am just, I've always been an honest open person. Um, I'm maybe to a fault a little bit like an open book. But, uh, you know, I also on the other side of that, I like being around open honest people. One thing that I've noticed as of late, correct me if I'm wrong, is that when you left WWE in around 2008 or so, um, you kind of just like, faded into the night and we didn't hear much or see much about you and I feel like over the last couple of years maybe with the Hall of Fame and then the Royal Rumble appearance and even little things like you being in attendance in Atlanta in July we didn't get that for like a decade or so is there a reason behind that when I left wrestling I had back surgery

and I just kind of was tired of being on the road I knew I wasn't I was getting better in the ring and I knew that I was going to come back and not be at full capacity and I didn't want to hurt myself again. So that's kind of why I just decided to retire. And then I, you know, for a long time I kind of had mixed feelings about my time in wrestling because there was so much about it that I felt like was just, you know, I don't know about embarrassing, but like I just it just felt yucky, you know, thinking about it. And so I just kind of closed that door and just had no desire really to do much with it. I did signings here and there, but I just kind of wanted to like stay out of that world. It just felt like yucky. And then when they called me back

in, you know, 2018, I think it was for that first appearance. It was kind of like my, I guess, a test. And it, they welcomed me. with open arms and I just had such a great time meeting everybody and seeing how much it had changed from when I was there. And that's kind of why, you know, I started doing more and more. But, you know, for a while there, I just didn't even want to take anyone's calls, to be honest. And so were there opportunities that were potentially presented to you that you just ignored because you still felt that way? I honestly don't know. I do know they're this guy more.

Mark Carrano, who was in the head of talent relations for some time. There were a few phone calls that he had made that I didn't return closer up leading up to like 2016, 17. I don't know what they were for. Maybe they were just for a signing or something. Probably never know, but I wasn't ready yet to answer that call. But it wasn't really deliberate. When you say that at the time, part of the reason why you closed that door is because

you felt yucky about your career. I'm wondering if now in 2025, when you still look back on, you know, the prime of your career, do you still feel the same way? I don't. No, I think it took some time for me to step away and to be able to look at it from a different perspective and appreciate it for what it is. I just felt so attached to it for so long. And now I, you know, I do cringe when I look at a lot of stuff. I'm not for real, but I also giggle, you know, I see the entertainment value in it. It was a totally different era. And, you know, I was just, for a while, I just needed to step away and brush myself off

and remember that that tory is not the real tory. The real tory is me here sitting here. And, you know, I definitely see the value in it now. And, you know, I can chuckle over it. I can appreciate it, and I can also cringe over some of it. Do you have regrets when you look back? No, I think I don't really have regrets in life. Even the things that I would really not remember, prefer not to remember,

outside of wrestling, inside of wrestling, it's all a lesson. You know, there are times that I look back and I think, gosh, it's so cringe. it's so like just you know this the whole sex appeal stuff was so much um and at that age i was really trying to come to terms with being this like sex symbol i didn't feel like i was a sex symbol i always felt like i was the biggest dork in the room and my ex-husband used always always tell me that you're the biggest dork in the room and um so i never really felt i felt like it was always just being a poser. But then on the flip side of that,

it also brought out this part of me that became more confident in her sexuality. So there's just a lot of different dynamics at play. You know, it's interesting because I've heard you say in other interviews that used to have tremendous anxiety before doing some stuff, right, in wrestling and especially putting yourself out there and whatnot. How did you eat, like, it wasn't just,

I can understand a performer, a wrestler having anxiety before a big match, But you're out there, you know, doing bikini contest and stuff like that. How does someone who have incredible anxiety even step through the curtain? How do you even allow yourself to perform in those moments when you're dealing with what seemed like, and again, correct me if I'm wrong, like crippling anxiety to do this in front of thousands of people and millions at home? How did you even process all of that?

You know, it was, I kind of had to. I mean, I was there. Like, there was a high to it when I came back through the curve. curtain afterwards. But no matter what I was doing, whether I was in a bikini, being in a bikini was actually just as stressful as having a match for me, just different types of stress because we've all had those nightmares where we wake up and we're in school and we're like naked or in our underwear. And I like lived that out. And people were critiquing every little imperfection. Thank God there was no cell phone coverage back then. But really, I think one of the biggest

lessons that I learned from being in wrestling was that even if you're full of fear, if you just push through that and do it anyway, you can do it. And so much, so many things in life, we all just feel the fear and we ignore it. And we just push away. We go, turn around, don't do it. The opportunity to be in the wrestling world came, you know, out of just really luck for me and I took that opportunity and kind of ran with it and never in a million years did I think that I was going to end up being in front of all these crowds but it became like this fun addiction and also this big fear and you know it's just like I was envisioned someone like right before I go through the curtain someone's right there with their hand just shoving me out

And as soon as you go out, I learned that you either got to own it or you're going to be meek and look weird. And the fans are totally going to call you out on that. So you better just pretend like you know what you're doing and try to own it. I want to go back to your entrance in a moment. But like I'm wondering if there was ever something that you said, this is too much. Like this is a bridge too far. Because like I don't know what that line was clearly looking back. Like you were willing to be a team player and a company woman.

but did you ever say this one I can't do? Yeah, there was a couple times. One in particular, the Judgment Day pay-per-view bikini contest against Sable. Originally, Vince wanted me to do the hand paint on my boobs like Sable had done in the past. And I just, I didn't feel comfortable doing that. So I was like, how about rhinestones that barely cover my nebils? Don't ask me why that felt a little more safe than the paint. But looking back, I see myself, I've only seen myself in a thong bikini a few times out in front of the crowd.

And those times really do kind of make me cringe. It just seems like a lot. And then sometimes I, you know, you can see kids in the crowd and it just feels like this is wrong. on on on on Twitter though I feel like lately you have kind of leaned a little bit more into you know your popularity and the nostalgia you know surrounding those days there's one tweet that we found I don't know if you saw this it has 52 million views do you know the one that I'm talking about is it the judgment day one uh it's the one where it's like uh it's it's it's something like um the streets won't forget and you say that they oh yeah yeah this one right here on there

forget the streets. 52 million views on this. That's absurd. I know, it's crazy. 471,000 likes. There has been that. It really is. What does that feel like?

And this is the part of me that is like, I'm just embracing it, you know? There was a long time, probably that 10 years that I didn't really want anything to do with wrestling. Like, even if I saw something, I just, my stomach would turn and I just didn't, I didn't want to see it. And now I've done a flip. It's amazing. Well, I'm happy to hear that because no one wants to look back on the early days with any type of, I don't know, shame or regret or anything like that.

You talked about, you know, the fluke entrance, and I've heard you tell the story about Kevin Nash seeing you backstage or there with your, with your boyfriend at the time. He's a big wrestling fan. You know nothing about wrestling. You see Kevin Nash, Ray Mysterio, you're taking pictures. He recognizes you from a magazine. And I would love to ask, like, how the hell did he recognize you from a magazine? because you were just like a random person in a magazine. How closely was he looking at these magazines to recognize you?

Because you weren't really a name, right, back then? No, I had started to gain a little notoriety in the fitness world. I'd done some fitness contests and gotten on a couple fitness magazines covers. But the one that he saw me in, and it was from a, I had a green bikini on, and I was in a fitness contest. And this was like a picture towards the back of a magazine. and he's said it to me over and over. That's why I remember so vividly.

But that's what he remembers seeing. And I know he's, you know, super into fitness and the whole bodybuilding world. So I'm sure he saw those other fitness magazines. And, you know, thankfully, he remembered me from that magazine. And so when Hulk Hogan, unfortunately, passed away, you did mention that it was Kevin Nash and Hulk who kind of helped make you into a fixture at WCW.

I hadn't heard the Hulk part of it. what did you mean by that when you said it so kevin was kind of i think the more this the one that really spearheaded it more uh but folk did have a play in that because it was a storyline with them and at the time i had just moved to los angeles and i had gotten an agent uh peter young who happened to also be polk hogan's agent so we had like a tie in there that uh worked in my favor Okay. And when you're dropped into this world, it was only supposed to be like a three-week thing, right? How do you go from three-week to actually getting a full-time contract? Yeah, it was supposed to. They just said it should be like a couple months gig. And I, you know, at the time I was taking acting classes, doing the whole auditions and commercials and just excited to have a gig. And it really just snowballed so fast that, you know, gosh, probably a month. within, by the time I was at the first pay-per-view, this was back when people could be at the airport

waiting for you to get off the plane. Oh, wow. Like, there was just a lot of people waiting for me to get off the plane and in the hotels and it just kind of snowballed so fast that they ended up offering me a contract and, yeah, the rest is history. Did you like it off the jump or at first do you think this is a little bit weird? You know, being a very, shy girl growing up from Idaho, anything was just weird and scary. So there's that. But this world was definitely intimidating. Thankfully, I have three brothers. So that kind of prepared me a little bit for, you know, just the backstage craziness. But, you know, just it felt like being in a male locker room walking around. I just, I see big pop a pump, you know, standing there. Everyone's just

specimens and it's very intimidating and if you don't come from that world and you don't uh you're not super outgoing um and you don't know the protocol to you know go introduce yourself and shake hands which is a scary protocol if you're shy um you know you can get yourself off to the wrong on the wrong foot which i did a little bit uh but quickly learned um yeah so i don't i think that i was at that place in life where I knew that I didn't want to have a regular job. I knew that. Like I had had my husband makes money fun of me all the time because I'll be like, oh yeah, I worked there for three weeks and then I quit because I just, I couldn't stand the thought of sitting at a desk for the rest of my life. So I knew that I wanted to be in the entertainment industry and I knew that I wanted to go for

it. And when I moved to Los Angeles, I didn't have any one specific thing. I just thought like, I'm going to try modeling, acting, whatever. I'm just going to try it all. And so I did have that dream. I didn't have it specific. And wrestling popped into my laugh. And it was just like, okay, you said you wanted to be in the entertainment industry. So here you go. That protocol that you talk about in saying like you had to learn about it, how did you learn? Like in other words, did something happen or did someone tell you like, hey, you really need to go up to everyone and shake their hand and say hello and introduce yourself? Yeah, that was when I started working with Pete, Billy Kidman, who ended up later being my husband, he was the one that kind of filled me in because they put me as his

girlfriend on the show, his ballet, and he started, you know, kind of, once he realized that I was just like in over my head, he started, you know, helping me out. The vibe in the WCW locker room towards the end and I think maybe like towards the very end you you weren't around as much anymore how would you describe like when it seemed like this might be a sinking ship and you've heard about all these crazy stories about you know how there was all this drama and the rudderless ship and the money dry like could you tell that the end was near could you tell that it was just this this chaotic scene that was going to end and it did feel a little I mean I had only been there for like a year so I didn't know

what to really compare it to but it did feel like a little kit like shit showish um it did feel like some of the top wrestlers were the ones calling the shots um like i just i giggle i remember uh people talking about buff fagwell once saying they were going over a match and he was supposed to lose and he said i don't mind losing but my character shouldn't lose so like things like that i just i think are funny when you look back but um i ended up just they wanted me to take less money and do more shows and i didn't really know what i was supposed to be doing anyways it was kind of i was just floundering right i was there as a valet um so i was kind of ready to just walk away and so that period there was like a period of maybe nine months or so

I wasn't with them at all before they got bought by WWE. Do you think, was there a point at that time where you were like, I'm done with wrestling? It was a nice little run here, but I'm doing something completely different now. Yeah, I thought that was going to be it. I was like, okay, that gig lasted longer than I thought it would. And, you know, it's not for me. So when WWE started, you know, talking, tiring people when they bought

out WCW and they were taking meetings, Jim Ross took a meeting with me. At that time, I was dating Billy Kidman. And so he had a meeting with Jim Ross and Jim asked if I was interested in meeting with him too. And were you interested or did you have to be convinced? Like was there a part of you? He was like, no, I was. Okay. Yeah. You know, it's interesting because I didn't did know anything about wrestling when I started in WCW, and then it was pretty easy to see quickly that WWF was the one you wanted to be at. That's, it seemed like the much better show. So I knew that that would be definitely a big step up if I could get hired there. Was it, was it on the spot? Like, what did they, they knew who you were, you were established,

you were a name, you had success. Was it just a matter of, do you want to come in? We talk a little numbers and now you're in, or was there some convincing involved? There was no convincing. I had, I think J.R. was taking meetings at a hotel in Tampa. And by the end of my meeting with him, he pretty much was like the job yours. If you want it, we will send over a contract. And at that time, I had a lawyer go over it. So he didn't even have to talk the details with me. I remember, I remember your debut because, again, if you're a Tori Wilson fan at the time, you're like, all right, a lot of the WCW guys are coming in. but you know some aren't and it felt like the bigger names weren't at least initially right and so you debut and if my memory serves me correct like you were kind of like a thread throughout the night right like you you kept popping up throughout the night and it was you know the interactions with vince McMahon did you like that when it was presented to you in the way in which

it played out when the night was over you were like okay i i like the way they presented me i like the kind of intro i got to the wdbdance absolutely i loved it i mean they couldn't have given me of like more grand entrance and the uh the the little skits that we did backstage are hilarious i wish they had high death back then so we could see them now like better uh but everybody was so funny um um stone coal and curran angle or so funny in some of the skits we did and it was obviously extremely intimidating um working with vince during your first day and kissing Vince first day. What was that like? How did you, how did you handle that? Ah, just like I always handled everything else, just felt someone pushed me on the back and,

you know, just do it. Kissing Vince was interesting because Linda was standing right there. Okay. Kind of helping like navigate it all. So I don't know if that made me feel better or more weird. but you know I was just really happy to have like a big role on TV then speaking of anxiety and stuff like that these are larger than life people in front of you now right I mean some of the legends of the game are internally are you dying inside like what is going on with the nerves yeah the nerves like you know one thing about the nerves is once you kind of get going

they they subside a little bit so it's like the lead up is worse than the walkthrough But I think that from there, everything else seemed a little less intimidating unless I was out in front of the crowd. And the crowd's intimidating because you just never know what you're going to get. And they're not afraid to tell you when you've messed up. Did you feel like you were... But I think this is part of the lesson that I've learned early on is that that threads throughout my life. You can be scared and you can still do it. Did you feel like you were a rookie again in the sense that you had to go up to everyone, shake your hand, and do all that locker room stuff all over again?

Oh, yes, you just reminded me. Oh, I'm sorry. You know, no, it's funny because back then, you know, you have all the people in WWE that are like probably wondering if they're going to have their job for much longer because this whole influx of WCW people came in. So even more so then I was just like extra nice to everybody. and just wanted everyone to make sure that I, you know, didn't think that I was better than anybody. And, you know, I heard all these horror stories about some of the hazing that people have gotten. So it was just, you know, just pushed through the shyness and make sure everybody knows you appreciate them and you're glad to be there. Did you get any of that, any of that hazing?

I didn't, no. Never. I mean, a little in the girls' locker room. a little Debra didn't like me why not what's not to like yeah I think she thought I was

like after her guy which I wasn't but she seemed to think I was so she didn't like me yeah but I think it's more like just getting to know people you know like back then the locker room wasn't super you know cheering nice when you came in i think everybody was

just a little more standoffish and you had to prove yourself and i i would travel together and we would just like it was kind of like we were almost like holding hands walking into that locker room and like oh here we go you know every day every time we showed up uh wondering hoping we weren't going to do something wrong to piss piss anybody off because all correct me if i'm wrong you know the women you generally have your your your one locker room right so when like when you walk in there did you feel like there was a divide between the the old guard if you will and and the new kids on the block you definitely felt like like an iciness okay yeah like there was no like hey tori like nobody was greeting each other like they were when i left the company it was

very like you walk in uh actually now that i'm thinking Now that I'm going down memory lane, I'm thinking of Lita, too. She took a long while to warm up. I joke around with her sometimes about it because we did a pay-per-view poster together. And we had to shoot this before a TV taping. So we went in early that day for the shoot. And I remember walking into the locker room and put my makeup on. And I was like, hi, Lita.

And she, like, didn't even say hi back. Didn't even say hi back. tease her about it. No, she didn't talk to me all day. She, but, but like, God love, I love her to deck now. Um, we're young, you know, or it is what it is. I tease her about it. Uh, but she, later when I, one time when I mentioned it to her later, she was like, I, you know, I just, I was mad that you got this thing with me. Wow. So there was like a threatening feeling, right? Probably so. Yeah. And maybe, who knows? Like, maybe I would have been that way if I was in their spot.

Right. Probably not. By the way, I'm a little ashamed to say, I think it was a Survivor series poster, right? Yeah, yeah. I looked that up, by the way. That didn't come off the top of my head, just for the record, just for everyone out there. Oh, you did? No, I didn't.

I'm lying. I was just trying to save myself. I was going to say, you're good. Yeah, no, I... You are good. I know you're good. I appreciate that. I remember that one.

there was also a Great American Bash one back in the day where I remember you were featured on that and on and on it goes do you think your character could fit in today's WW or if you walked into today's WW you would have had to be a completely different person I don't think I mean

character or person well actually person might be more interesting let's go with person person like I love going there now I love love all of the women. I love just, it just feels more relaxing. Everyone's more welcoming. So I do love being around all those girls. They're all so sweet, great. Now, like, just the thought

of trying to claw my way onto, into a position on TV, like, no, thank you. There's so many amazing women that are so gifted and talented that, you know, no, not for me. No, no, I could never compete with that. Why do you think that there are less, for lack of a better word, valets in today's? That was always a staple of wrestling, right, dating back to the 80s, even the 70s. And I don't know if you even consider yourself as such, but I feel like you were more that than active competitor. Hopefully you don't take that as an insult. Why do you think there's less...

Why is there less of that today than back even in the early 2000s? That's a good question. I mean, some people do it so well. Chelsea Green, I just, I love her. I love her character. She is like just the epitome of someone that can kill it in the ring as a wrestler and then also kill it when she's a valet, kill it in backstage skits that are.

like literally she makes the most of every second she gets on TV and she is the epitome of someone that would be just a great ballet. I do think that they could really add a whole layer in that makes things, you know, interesting, but I don't know why they don't. Scarlett is another one, maybe more of like the old school type. Carrying Cross's wife who doesn't really wrestle but is just there by his side. It reminds me of, you know, some of the characters from your era. Could you have, you did wrestle, but you weren't as active, and I know you've been asked about never winning the title, and you don't really care about that because it's all just someone's decision. So I won't even ask you about whether or not you care.

But could you have been as active as the women are expected to be today? They're tremendous athletes today. They're all wrestlers. They all do their thing, and they're given the same type of respect in airtime for the most part as the men. Do you think you could have done that if you walked into this era? I think I could have done that with training. You know, the last probably two years that I was wrestling, maybe three, I wrestled a lot more. And I was wrestling on house shows and then maybe not always TV, but at least three nights a week, I was wrestling on the house shows. And I know my body was always hurting. I had mentioned to Kevin Owens once we were sitting on a plane next to each other.

And I was like, hey, I don't know what it is. Like, I feel like my body was just not, like, I was always hurting. And like, why did I get, why did I have fact surgery when I didn't wrestle nearly as much as some of the other people? And he was like, well, maybe it's because you weren't wrestling all the time. And so your body, like, never really got used to it, you know? Every time it was like, if you had like a lull, it was like you're like reprogramming your body to take, you know, to be rearended by a car. Basically, that's what it is. Um, so I lost my train, I thought.

No, it's okay. Well, it's basically whether or not you would be, uh, successful and willing to do the schedule that they do now and the, the, the, the bumps that they do now. And, and you were, I think their schedule is better now, isn't it? Yeah. Do they not do house shows? Uh, seems like they have a much better schedule. Um, but totally. Like, I mean, when I was learning to wrestle, I was having fun learning to wrestle.

And that's part of what played into when I had back surgery. like I didn't want to go back just to do like be a valet I wanted to wrestle but I I just knew how I felt and I just I didn't want to put my body through that so regarding the back surgery why did it seem like that happen and then you just never came back was that the plan when you went out and and got the surgery it wasn't the plan oh I um while I was at home I just I thought about it And, you know, I was like, I just, the pain that I was feeling so much leading up to that, being frozen for sometimes like 30 minutes, I'd just sit there on the couch crying because I couldn't, I was so locked up.

I just, the thought of putting my body through more of that had no appeal to me. I was fine, like hanging up everything I had. So that's, that call came after I had been home for a while. I just called Johnny Ace at the time and said, you know, could I have my release? And did he say yes, like just right away, or did he try to convince me? He, I believe he tried to, not convince me, but like, we had a conversation. I don't know that he was trying to change my mind about anything, but it was more like, are you sure this is really what you want to do?

Let me talk to Vince kind of thing. Was there ever an idea that you had, an angle of storyline that you felt really, passionately about and push for it and pitched it and thought it would be great for you and your character and it just never came to fruition and you wish it did? I honestly don't remember. I do know. No, I did very rarely did I do that. I wish I knew then what I know now because back then I was more of a people pleaser and didn't

want to like rock the boat. so I was never the girl that was in the writer's ear or like trying to finagle my way into a better finish. And so that worked well for some people, but I never tried to do that. And, you know, looking back, I kind of wish I wouldn't have done that more, but I was more of the thought like that's annoying.

Like, I would be annoying to them. So I wish I would have just done that. Okay. I don't know if you heard, but Maven was on our show a couple, weeks ago, and I was talking about his angle with you. He's become like a big YouTube star now. I don't know if you know this, but he's like the guy on YouTube. Did you know this? Is he? No. What is he doing? Oh my gosh. Like a wrestling show? No, he started a YouTube channel

maybe two years ago, and he's just killing it. He's telling stories about the old days and nothing too, you know, salacious or anything like that, but now he's even evolved into he went to go see Buff Bagwell when unfortunately he had to have his leg amputated like he's doing like actual journalism he went to go see RVD um he's just become infinitely more popular today than he was back in the you know the tough enough and post tough enough days uh and it's a great story that's amazing he's very honest and so anyways i was like man i got to say like i'm in college and i'm not talking to anyone and you come into the w w and you get a you get a w contract and you win tough enough and then you get an angle with Tori Wilson

off the bat and he's like, oh my God, I was like, my mind was blowing I had the biggest crush on her. This is what he's saying. And so he said he wanted to maybe down the line try to connect with you. What I wanted to ask was how did you feel about that? Because he was sort of viewed as like you know, the reality show winner. When you were

put in that story with him, did you feel like it was beneath you or did you dig it? Absolutely. I never thought anything was beneath me. I was just always appreciative to have a storyline or a spot, you know, on TV. I always thought he was really nice.

Like, the thing about me, like, having all these little on-screen hookups is that I was, I also was either married to Billy Kidman or he was my boyfriend or fiance. So that part was a little weird to me. But outside of that, feeling weird, I, you know, I love Maven. He was awesome, super nice down to earth. and not like jaded by the wrestling business. Yeah, he actually has a video on his YouTube channel where he's talking to his wife

about some of his more maybe embarrassing scenes and she's reacting and she's never seen it. It's a great clip. And one of them is the interaction with you and she's seeing you for the first time because I guess she's not a wrestling person. And he mentioned that when you, I think you guys may have kissed

and Billy was there watching and he was like, that was really awkward for him because you were married or together at the time. Do you remember any of this? I remember when we kissed and I do, yes, I remember he was there. I think he was the one too where we did a scene where he was in the hospital

and I was eating a banana. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. I saw this on Instagram recently and I had totally forgot about it and I was just, I couldn't believe that I did that. Another one of those things you're like, oh my gosh, Tori, really. A different time, a different era.

That stuff wouldn't necessarily fly today. no no uh the the the the for me a lot of people ask you about um you know the angle with your dad and that was great but i always thought that the one with tigiri was very was very interesting it was a little bit different did you enjoy that one yeah he was so fun to work with like i mean he didn't speak a lot of english but everyone always would say you know he knows much more english than he lets on i don't know if that's true or not but he was always very pleasant to work with and then that dynamic between us i thought was really cute and light.

Recently you celebrated your birthday, not that long ago, happy belated birthday. Thank you. And it seems like you're very proud of where you are in life. It seems like you're very proud of your age and how things have turned out for you. Do you view yourself as someone? I told them not to post this because it does say your age, and I know we're not supposed to say a woman's age. Okay, okay, well, God bless.

What I did say was I hope that I look like that when I'm 50, not exactly like that, but like that, you know, that healthy and fit when I'm 50. So God bless you. Well done. Do you view yourself as some sort of inspiration to, you know, obviously a lot of men were fans of yours, kids were fans, all that stuff. But, you know, for women as well to be proud of their age and where they're at in life once you hit that number.

I mean, I hope to be. I don't, I don't know necessarily view myself as that, but I know what I love seeing and I love, I'm attracted to seeing women who. embrace their age and then also are inspiring. And don't slow down in the gym. They still embrace their sensual side. And they're still them. I think we, you know, in this world, there's a lot of ageism. And I think people kind of expect you to start shrinking away. And, you know, if that's what you want to do, fine. That's not what I want to do. And I think that it's important to, um, It's important to yourself, and it's also important to the people that are watching you,

especially if you're on a platform to be authentically you and not let the world push you into shrinking away. Very good message. And so if you were an old school, Tori Wilson fan, or maybe a new school, Tori Wilson fan, or maybe a woman who is 50 who admires you and looks up to you and perhaps wants to follow more of your stuff, what is this passes thing that you're doing that uh i see you promoting what what exactly would someone be getting if they subscribe to this not that i have just for the record i i i wanted to get the pitch here i wanted to get the pitch yeah um passes has been really fun for me it's a place where um basically my fans want to follow me it's where i kind of like unleash the beast i'm a little more like

open about being sexier you know like the interesting thing as social media there are a lot of things that i could post but then sometimes i don't because i'm like oh i don't want to be judged well on passes i can be sexier there's a limit there's boundaries there it's nothing like only fans you know there's a lot of athletes on there and it's kind of a place where you can create content that your fans want to see and evidently my fans still like the sexy content that I love making. So it's kind of been this weird, perfect marriage. My husband, sometimes he just looks at me and he shakes his head and he's like, you're almost way too good at this. Like, this is so easy. This is not even working. And so

there it is. If you want to join and support, it's going well so far? It's going great. Yeah. Okay. And your husband's just like a regular dude, right? I don't mean regular dude. Like, he's not from the wrestling world. So does he ever, he's just like, he's just an average bloke, as they say. He's an average bloke.

He's in the media industry, um, but more like golf and sports and, uh, he works for peacock. Uh, and it's interesting because he watched wrestling as a little kid. And then when we connected,

well, when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he kind of started watching wrestling, um, more. And now he's become this like, crazy wrestling fan. And we've got it on every Monday and Friday in the house.

Wow. Sometimes I'm like, I can't watch it tonight. But I'm, he's kept me up to date because he's been so into it. Wow. And now we go, when I do like signings at WrestleMania, he's like, oh, we got to go to the show. You know, he's all about it. When you met, did he know who you were? He, no, we met through a mutual friend.

So, like, you know, he got the lowdown, but he had no. He hadn't watched wrestling in a long time. You believe him? I have a hard time believing that. If he's a hardcore wrestling fan, how does he know who you are? He probably tried to play cool. No, he wasn't, though.

He wasn't. Maybe, yeah, maybe. I don't know. But he, like, he watched wrestling when he was maybe like five years old and hadn't since. Okay. And now has gone more into it. But you know, maybe. And you're comfortable watching it.

You're not, you don't feel weird watching it or anything like that. This is now a good thing for you. Right. I don't get like that. like yeah it's fun now it's it's uh it's fun it feels a lot lighter um i love watching the girl and women are just they're kicking ass and it's so cool to see uh yeah it's just such a good product and the wrestling is so big now bigger than ever yeah as you know yes um and and i'll let you go in a moment i promise uh i do wonder if uh that wound getting into the hall of fame

Did the wound heal up? Was that the moment? Did that help getting that recognition? That's bigger than getting a belt or anything like that to be respected and honored like that? I definitely think it's bigger than any belt they could have ever given me. I honestly never real. I never considered the fact that I might be in the Hall of Fame. Never even put that into my radar.

But when they did call me, I appreciated so much what that meant. All of a sudden, I realized like, wow, this is the. I'm actually saying thank you for all the shit you did and all the time that you were on the road and what you put your body through. Like, just that thank you meant so much more to me than I ever realized would. Were you nervous giving the speech? Oh, hell, yeah, of course. I'm nervous doing anything in front of a crowd. Okay.

But are you proud of the speech? Absolutely, yes. I worked on it for a long time. The puberty line is legendary. Did you come up with that? I did. It was a great one. I mean, I hear it all the time, so.

Well, legit people come up to you and say thanks for helping me during that period. Like, how does someone actually say that to you? Like, at signings, I mean, I don't do a lot of signings anymore, but during that time, especially, like, they would say, like, you're a part of my puberty. Wow. And now it's a even bigger thing to say because I said it in my speech. So now they feel okay saying it. yeah prior to that maybe a little weird if i'm being 100 no but that's why like that's why it was in my speech because i had heard it so much unbelievable uh well kudos to those people if someone wanted

to go back who's maybe a newer fan like what is your high moment what what are you most proud of in your career what's the one that you would you would say to people to go check out oh golly my hall of fan speech at the end they can't be that um i don't i don't i don't I don't know. I don't really keep track of anything like that. I see things on Instagram like, oh, okay, I was actually a little decent in that match, but I could never, I don't have things memorized. I couldn't tell you when, what match was. No, no, I'm just saying what you're proudest of, like what you thought was the apex of your career. I am proudest of how much better I got in the ring towards the end. I was just starting to feel. I was just starting to feel. feel like I was understanding it a little bit better. I did feel like I was getting more comfortable when I was out there. I wasn't like completely nervous the whole entire time. I was beginning to I was at that point where I wasn't like a deer in headlights if I messed up. Like I was starting

to understand what it meant to kind of go with the crowd on things. But I mean, I still feel like I was like thousands of miles away from where my potential was, but that would be where I'm most proud was, you know, getting better in the ring. Anything before that, like anything bikini related, not necessarily proud, but it is what it is. You know, it's funny and entertainment, but yeah. Part of your story. And what a legendary story was, I hope that you are proud. I hope that you look back on all those years with great fondness. Thanks for all the great entertainment. And I think from afar, what drew people to you, what drew fans to you, was that you

seemed very relatable. You seemed like you weren't above anyone, that you weren't larger than life in that sense. You were kind of just like a regular person. And even though you were on the biggest platform and biggest stage, you had this demeanor that made you seem like you were somewhat relatable, if you get what I'm saying. And I think that was part of your... That's actually the best thing. compliment. Okay. So, so much respect, much love to you. Thank you so much for coming on. I really,

really do appreciate it. Thank you, Talia Knightheart for helping me find you because I've tried, I've sent you a few messages on Instagram, never been read, probably blocked by now, but she hooked me up with your email address. So I appreciate that very much. Thank you, Natty. You're the best. And most importantly, thank you so much for the time. Really, really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. All right, there she is, the one and only Tori Wilson on the program, who we can now cross off the list. What a time, what a day, what a pleasure. And I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.

In a few minutes, we are going to be joined by Giuliana Pena. Looking forward to that, post-Juliano, will be joined by Tony Storm, who, if you are not familiar with Tony Storm's work, do yourself a favor and look her up. Or maybe don't, and just be introduced to her here, and then, on the back end, go look her up. because she might be one of the best characters in wrestling today, truly, like one of the best characters in wrestling today. And that's male or female. Now, I took a break at the beginning of the show. Does that mean I don't have to take a break now, or do I take another break?

I'm good. It's up to you, yeah. I'm good. You're the breakmaster. Let's keep going. I could probably answer a few other questions here. Can I do that? Yeah.

It's time for on. And don't sing it yourself, though. It takes the charm out. Okay. Jesus. Kyle, Ariel, what is the delay in booking the Kayla Harrison versus Amanda Nunes fight? I don't think there is a delay. Kayla Harrison fought in June.

It's September. I think, as I think I said yesterday, I don't think we're getting that fight at the White House. I think the goal is for that fight to happen in the first quarter and then for, if all goes well, Kayla, to fight at the White House. I think it would be perfect for the White House. I think Kayla, there are certain fighters that have to be on the White House card, and I think Kayla Harrison has to be on the White House card. Currently the only American champion, two-time Olympic gold medalists, one of the best

representatives of this country in this sport that we have, she's a no-brainer. She's an absolute shoeing, in my opinion. But I think that fight happens before. The delay, I don't think there is a delay. Now, they talked about the six-month thing. Maybe that's a delay, but I think that they can get around it. Spanish Armada, wow. Frank, what's that from?

That is also from Billy Madison. Yeah. Rank these in-studio face-offs. MVP versus Perry. Rafion Stotz versus the Italian Colby Covington. Oh, that was great. Danny Sabatelo. Stevens Perry.

Dennis versus the mechanic guy, Ariel versus Dennis. Here's the thing. One of those was in studio. Is Stotz versus Sabatel the only in-studio face-off that we've ever had? I feel like there was another one. We had Becky bust into the studio. Yeah, with Ria Ripley.

With Ria Ripley. Yeah. That was all time. That might be the only, like, you know, booked in-studio face-off, the Stats and Sabatela. Usually we do them virtually. So in studio would have to win.

Also, they got into a freaking fight. Yeah. Remember that? Were you there that day? Yeah, yeah. Is that a Monday or Wednesday? No, I was there. I thought they were legit.

I don't think that was a work, by the way. Also, I forgot about Mr. Monday afternoon. Remember that? Kind of missed it to me. Maybe. No, that was fantastic. What did you say, I might miss it. By the way, you know who he's forgetting?

He's forgetting the one we just talked about, Chris Wade, and now I'm forgetting the other guy. Lock name? No. Was it not Chris Wade and Brennan Lock name? It was, it was.

You know what? Low-key, one of the better... So good you remember the names every time. Low-key, one of the better

feuds in PFL history. Wade was great at having feuds with everybody. That's why I loved Wade. Oh, here's a good one. Matt Berkey, first, are we all

now in agreement that GC stands for gastrointestinal Connor? That's tough. That's how someone say, add a B on to it, make it BGC bubble guts, Connor. Oh, God.

Shadowlink. So up Ariel and friends. Hot Take, the White House event should not happen. Reminds me of a kingdom hosting an event. Come on, stop it with this. It's the White House on the 250th birthday of the United States. Now, are you saying this because you don't like the president? Like, forget that for a moment.

It's the UFC at the White House. Nine years ago, the UFC was banned in the United States. the state of New York. And now they're having an event at the White House. And years ago, they're doing fights at the Waffle House. Yeah, come on. Now they're going to the White House. This is... Maybe I'm naive. I don't view the UFC holding an event at the White House as a political thing. I view it as... I don't think we recognize the fact that come next summer, there's going to be a ton of celebrations around this country regarding the 250th birthday of America. And I'm looking forward to it. I wonder what it's all.

going to look like. And I think we need to get back to loving this country, regardless of, you know, how we feel about the times. I hope so. I, someone asked me this recently. I said, actually, I saw my neighbor. There's this amazing guy who is my neighbor. I love this guy. Shout to your neighbor. I don't know if I've ever talked about this guy, but he is an older man. I do believe his wife passed away a few years ago. Beats the books, right? Yes, I've talked about him. Yeah, but keep going. He's always walking around the neighborhood, reading a book.

He never buys his books. He goes to the library, and he'll finish them, fat ones, within two, three days. It's unbelievable. And so every time I see him, every two, three days walking, no matter the year, the temperature, the weather, he's walking, he's walking, he's walking, reading his book. And I'll always be like, what are we reading today? and it's like some super dense, you know, Egyptian history, this, that, and the other. Political history, fiction, nonfiction. And I saw him last week on September 11th because I think last, yeah, last Wednesday was September 10th.

That's when Charlie Kirk was killed and then the next day was September 11th. September 11th is an awful day. And I saw him Thursday morning and I said, it's just a very somber day or sad day in our country I said and he's like oh our country you view this as your country now and I said yes I've been living here longer than I lived in Canada and I love living here I love being an American

I still love this country and I'm very proud of my roots but this is where my kids were born this is where I've chosen to live my life and this is where I always wanted to be I always wanted to be working in America I always looked up to all things American so I think that we need to be proud of America you don't have to agree with everything I'm not saying that we need to live in a kumbaya but I think that the 250th anniversary of America

is going to be a great thing and the fact that the UFC is a part of it is surreal when you look at where the UFC was 20 years ago let alone nine years ago they weren't on pay-per-view in the late 90s make no mistake this will there are political implications for this there will be, you know, things that come from this that are related to Dinawa, the president as well.

But that's not a reason not to do this. This is still a significant event from a cultural perspective. It's huge. It's big for the sport. And by the way, it's big for the fighters, too. Like, could you imagine getting on that card? It's big for them. My mom doesn't know, Ilya from Islammachia from Tom Asmel, doesn't know a lick about

MMA. She's hit me up probably three or four times about the White House card already. Really? she's into it she's very interested in how they will pull this off and she's aware of it happening so that means it's going on some sort of news networks oh yeah

I mean you guys want to talk about it every week on BITB it's tough it's tough instead we'll do a deep dive on the flyweight division oh you know what who's next after van who is next after van

fan it is a good question or uh next big star at heavyway buchetta oh yeah that's a big one by the way why does um why does eric sound so not excited to talk to juliana look man there's a technical stuff we have to arrange i think the roles are reversed i don't think juliana is excited she's got the biggest smile on her face she mad at us again surely we've gone over that life's too short she's nodding she's mad she's mad intimately yeah oh oh jesus what did we do we've been through so much together and now I think that we are on the

best path do you guys agree absolutely who could forget the Christmas Day text of 2024 water under the bridge has it not even been a year since that Christmas Day

it's one of the worst Christmases of my life felt it across the best part was I was writing McGillah's G. G.C. nowhere to be found never backed me at once let's sleeping dogs lie in never even chimed in there with like hey

what can I do here how can I fix this let's ask Juliana about the infamous Christmas Day text of 2024 hello Juliana how are you I'm over it I'm good how are you okay okay it's so great to see

you look fantastic thank you thank you so do you how's it going Ariel it's going pretty well it's actually been a tough day Juliana if I'm being honest I feel like we could talk about this because we're pals What happened?

I don't mean to put you on the spot But do you know Tom Jurbasie Yeah Oh God UFC.com Love Tom Well

This is Unfortunately he passed away And it's awful news So I'm very very sad today And I'm so sorry to tell you like this because I thought maybe you saw on social media, but yeah. Oh, no.

I know. He just came out with this book last week. Last week he came out with this book. Oh, his family's probably shattered. That's horrible. I know. I am so sad. He was the nicest guy.

And I was talking about how he was so nice to everyone. The fighters loved him, the media. And I'm so sorry to tell you this. But I can't get over the sadness. that's seriously horrible Ariel I know why did you have to hit me with that right now I'm sorry I wanted to maybe talk about your memories of him because I know that he's been around the sport for a long time so I apologize but you ask me how I was doing I feel so sad and our other guests don't know him today you're the only MMA guest on the show today and so I I just you know how it is I'm sorry I'm really really sorry dude that's so so bad. I have been doing interviews with Tom since 2013, and he has and always will be my favorite reporter because he's so good. I mean, we literally have like a personal relationship, friendship. His family has got to be absolutely gutted. That's horrible. Horrible. How did he pass, Ariel? I don't know all the details, but I found out last night and I was kind of numb to it and I was choosing not to really like believe it in a weird way and then the boxing writers because you know he was a boxing writer too

for many many many years the boxing writers Association of America tweeted it out at like 12 o'clock today I'm so sorry and I hope you're not upset at me for bringing it up but I thought maybe You had seen it. He just got awarded something from, I think, the Boxing Association. And he sent me the pictures because he brought his granddaughter on stage and she was able to share the moment with him. And he was so happy because she was so well behaved and he didn't think she was going to. But she went up there and got the award with him. And he sent me all the pictures with his granddaughter and the dress and everything like that.

Honestly, I can't tell you how much I look forward to doing. If I ever look forward to doing interviews, it's with Tom because I know that he always puts the fighters in such a great light. That's the picture. There you go. Oh, that's so sad. And he always had such good things to say about me. He's such a great man. Yeah.

It's terrible. Do you need a minute? I'm really sorry to be the one to do this. It's just, there's just been so much. much bad things going on and it is so depressing. I know. The last time I was on your show too, I was crying and this is not how I wanted. I know I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Juliana. I just know you're an OG. You've been in the game for so long and everyone loved them and I keep staring at this book on my desk with his name right there and it just came out last week. And again, I hope anyone, if they want

to support Tom, buys it because it's an amazing piece of work. It's about the 100 greatest fighters in boxing history so I can't get over it but I am sorry and I love them too I love them too so I think what I said was at the beginning of the show was because I was getting emotional talking about him and I feel like Tom you know he kind of has like that New York sense of humor would have sent me a text and being like hey man like stop crying get over you know like he would always send this funny text even when shit would happen to me he'd always be like stop causing trouble you know what mean. So that type of thing. So the best way that I can honor him is to, you know, we have a good day and have a good chat. And yeah, I'm so sorry. Are you okay or do you want to take a break?

No, no. I just rest in power, Tom. Honestly, there's not anything negative that anybody could ever say about him because he lived such a, you know, exemplary life. Like he was always so good. And like you said, he would always have like a really fun way of, you know, making me feel like the best in the world and making me feel like I was unstoppable and he believed in me. And even if he had to go call the other girl to get her side of the story, he left me believing that he liked me more and that like he wanted me to win and that he knew I was going to win. And so he was, dang, that that sucks so bad. I know his daughter and his wife are probably just gut it. Oh, that is, I am really, really sorry to hear about that. That really makes me super sad.

The one thing that I'll just say, and then we could talk about what you're here to talk about, which I'm excited about, is that you have literally said everything that I said about him, and I had an hour to think about it. You just prove to everyone who doesn't know who he is, exactly who I was trying to tell them that he is because you can't fake that type of reaction or emotion or even the stories that you're telling. He was that guy, he was

salt to the earth, just a pure gentleman and everyone loved them. People say that sometimes, but I swear to God I have never met a single person being like, you know that Tom, I don't really, like that doesn't exist with him. And there's very few people that I've ever met that that could proudly boast that.

So again, may he rest in peace, as you said. And I did want to ask you, And I don't even know how my brain went there. So again, I really do profusely apologize for dumping that on you. But how are you doing? Because the last time we saw you was obviously a tough time. You've had some time to get over the fight. But then I see you're having surgery and you're learning how to walk again and all this stuff.

And that's not easy in its own right. So physically and mentally, how are you doing? Oh, my gosh. I've been going through it, dude. I have got to tell you that, you know, having back surgery and, you know, having all these other surgeries that I've been having lately is not fun. And the only thing that I'm like clinging to is that like if somebody's going to do it, it's going to be me. It has to be me because I had gotten ran over by a car walking on the sidewalk and had my nose smashed in and I was able to come back from that, you know? I was able to fight a dude in the alley and get my eyes swollen shut for three days and

11 stitches in my eye and come back from that. I was able to tear out both of my knees, dislocate both of my elbows, have multiple surgeries still some that I never disclosed with the public. And I was able to come back from that and get my hand raised inside that octagon. So that is the one thing that I am just holding on to that like I've been down these roads before. I've built these roads. And if anybody's going to be able to come back from something like this, it's going to be me. So that's the one positive that I've just been clinging to because I'm once again down in the dumps about having to have a surgery. And, you know, it can be very

mentally taxing if you're not prepared. And so I've just been holding out hope that, you know, this is just a part of the show and I'm going to, you know, I am on the up and up and I'm excited for what the future holds and making a comeback because I think that the comeback is always the good thing to look forward to and the exciting thing to hold the out for. If this was sort of like a football field and getting to the end zone is you're 100% healthy, like how far along the way are you right now? How close are you to feeling as good as possible? well i just got back from physical therapy and i just got a beautiful bouquet of roses yesterday to

to celebrate my uh six week post-op and so it was funny because i got these roses and i thought oh i didn't even know it's been six weeks yet so um i'm i'm about i would say maybe like we're we're a little bit past the 50 yard line for sure um but for for me it's not like this thing where I'm like, I have to be ready because I have a fight in one month and I need to you know, like make sure that I'm there. It's like I'm going to take my time and make sure that I'm not getting over my skis here because I got to carry this body on this back for the rest of my life. And I need to make sure that I'm taking it easy and not trying to rush myself in order to, you know, make sure that I make some money or else I don't know what I'm going to do. You know,

I've been blessed enough to be able to chill a little bit and just really take my time and maybe focus my energy on some other things. Like what? Well, I'm going to do a remodel in my house. That's number one. Oh, wow. How big are we talking here? Are we talking like complete gut job or?

I might have to move out for a few months for sure. You know, definitely going to have to, you know, you don't want to be trying to live in a house. and breathe dust and do all that stuff. So it's definitely going to be a pretty big job. This is actually a big debate in my household right now because my wife wants to do that. And I don't want to do it. I don't want to move out.

I'd rather just get a new house. What do I have to go through this? Move out, come back. Sounds like a pain in the butt. You're into that? I'm definitely not into this long drive that I have to do for my daughter. So I think I'm definitely going to choose a place closer to her school so that I'm not having to do this hour drive every day.

Okay. But I love my house. I love the space. I love the neighborhood. I love the seclusion of it. So I definitely think that a more modern uptake is going to, you know, be lovely. And I spend a lot of time here as far as, you know, some of my recovery down in the basement and, you know, office work and being close to the gyms that I train at, which was the main reason why I decided to move out into the suburbs because it was a lot closer to the training that I had to do. So I don't. want to, I don't want to move. I love my house. I think it's a beautiful home. Um, but I, I know that if you were to do one, I would suggest if you were going to move, maybe moving even closer to the studio that you have to go to every day. Okay, okay. Well, thank you for that. I'll take that under advisement. Okay, other than, uh, remodeling your house, what else? What else? Yes. Okay. So I am going to be joining the broadcast team for Real American Freestyle, which is live on Fox Nation, and their next show they're gearing up for is October 25th.

Wow. There it is. Thank you, Frankie. Breaking News, miced up at RAF02. I saw you at the debut event, but you were just a spectator, right? You were just, yeah, there you are. Yeah. Enjoying the scenery.

Now you're actually working the broadcast. Yeah, so my agent, Chad Bronstein, the man, the myth, the legend, put this promotion together with the help of his friends, Eric Bischoff and Izzy Martinez. And this was a project that they were doing with Hulk. And then Hulk unexpectedly passed away. And so this was something that they decided that needed to continue.

And it was something that we know that he would want to continue. and we're doing it in honor of the Hulk himself. And so, you know, Terry was a big part of this vision. And of course he loved, you know, real American freestyle wrestling. And he loved, you know, the WWE aspect of it as well. So it was kind of like a bridge between real wrestling and WWE wrestling. And so, you know, you get there and you kind of see these guys pushing each other and kind of having that, you know, WWE moment.

But then it gets down to the brass tuesday. of things, which is real wrestling, and I think that it was such a sight to see. I was so impressed with the way that everything came together, because, you know, Chad has been talking about this for months, for months, for months, and then to actually see it come into fruition was so beautiful. And I was blown away with the production. I was blown away with, you know, the venue and all of the fun things that the venue had to offer for the fans. So it was a really fun event and to be there to watch it was really inspiring. I saw Holly Holme came out on a day's notice

and did really well against Stephanie. She was another wrestler from, I think, the Mexican side. And so it was just really awesome to see. And now I get to be a part of it, which is another, you know, little feather in the cap. I thought that Holly moment was amazing. And I think maybe some of the wrestling purists would say, oh, no, White Hendrickson,

competing or this guy that guy but to me we all know holly we know her background for her to for them to be able to do like a surprise thing because you couldn't do a surprise you know a surprise competitor in an mma or boxing event but for her to appear like that had a little wrestling pro wrestling element to it and then for her to compete against someone who's a mainstay in this world and actually do well chale sun and put it perfectly i thought when he was on the show in the aftermath he said it worked out perfectly for r a f had she won people would have said this was a work this was was scripted, right? But because she did so well and then lost, it was like, oh, damn, Holly is one of the greatest of all time. Obviously not good enough to compete against someone

on a day's notice who does this for a living. But holy crap, what a fun moment that was. I was so not only impressed, but elated for her. You know, she came in from boxing, sparring that week, and she had a black eye. And then she goes out there and wrestles on a day's notice. and everyone's thinking she's getting a black guy from the wrestling match. It's like, no, she had that before she came in. It was such a surprise. The fans went crazy for her. And, you know, cheers to Holly to be able to have the guts to, you know, get out there

and wrestle in front of all those people on a day's notice. It was awesome, and she did very well. I know that she hadn't wrestled in like seven months. And so for her to get out there and just, you know, be able to do as well as she did, I thought that that was incredibly impressive and I was, you know, I told her afterwards, like, that was amazing. You did awesome. And of course, she didn't get the win, but it didn't matter because I felt like it gave her a lot of street cred. And I think that she got a lot more respect for just being like you said, one of the greats. And she will always have that, you know, in her name, that, that infamy of being able to do boxing professionally, do MMA professionally and now wrestling at that stage and at that level. It was, it was super impressive. What do you think R.A.F. ceiling is? Like, do you think that they could be a consistent thing, a show every month or something like that, and be a part of the combat sports landscape, like the major, you know, boxing promotions, UFC, PFL, pro wrestling?

You know, like just a part of that conversation. Absolutely. I think that the most amazing thing about RAF is that these wrestlers that wrestle for absolutely nothing get the chance to make some real money, you know? some of these guys, they do this for a living. And, you know, when you get to the Olympics, you might win a sponsor, you might win a couple thousand dollars, but it's not like life-changing money. And that's why I like RAF, much like a UFC fighter, you know, if you're giving the opportunity to these athletes to be able to go out there to compete, to do what they do for a

living and then pay them on top of it, it is, it's just a great opportunity. And they don't have to get punched in the face, you know, six minutes of wrestling, you get paid, you get in, you get out. It's a beautiful thing. And I definitely think that there is no ceiling. for RIF. I know that they're looking forward to doing a show once a month and I know that they're scheduled

for at least 12 shows next year and some other exciting things down the pipeline that I don't know that I can discuss right now but I know that they have some really exciting things on the horizon aside from the 12 shows that they have for next year scheduled. Are you going to compete for them

as well? They're trying to get me to compete, yeah and I'm like, yeah, I definitely think that I could. I know that they're trying to get Holly to come back and that's definitely something that they're wanting to do in the future and I asked her too would you wrestle again and she was like yeah I think so and I was like all right if you're doing it I got to do it but for me I'm really focusing on making a MMA comeback and if I can do both at the same time maybe go wrestle real quick and then you know go into the fight or vice versa

it's definitely in the realm of possibility I don't know that I would wear a singlet per se but maybe they could, you know, put a long bra on me in some regular shorts. So what's wrong with the classic wrestling singlet? You don't like it? I mean, I don't know. I don't know. Holly rocked it and she looked like a G. She looked like such a G.

Yeah, but I mean, she's a specimen. I don't know that I would look that great. And I'm comfortable in the long bra. We'll see. It's not, it's, I'm not saying no. Never say never. Okay. So as of right now, you're just working as a broadcaster.

If you did, if you did compete. Like, what's the ultimate dream match for you, wrestling match? Julianna Pena versus who's the opponent? Oh, man. I don't know. I think that that girl that beat Holly, Stephanie, would be a good start for me if I was going to do it. I think that that looks like a fair matchup for me. All right, all right.

Fair enough. By the way, you posted that picture with Hulk, and obviously I know about the history. Do you have any, you know, larger than life icon, but you share the same agent? Any interactions with him? You got to meet him. You got to be around him. Any stories that come to mind? I can tell you a few stories right off the top of my head.

I shared a moment with him when he came to Chicago and we did an appearance together at one of the bars and meeting him and being able to like sit down in booth and like spend like 30 minutes just talking and picking his brain and going over all of these things was was incredible we got to share some time down at marlago uh together and that was also very cool because you know for me especially being a ufc fighter i'm just a regular person and when you get around Hulk and you know these huge mega superstars in the wwe world These people can't go to a restaurant and sit down and have a bite to eat without somebody just bumrushing them and asking them to stand up to take a picture with them. And I know what that's like on a small scale, but I don't know what that's like on a mega superstar scale like Hulk. And so when we went to Mara Lago, it was like, you know, you're standing around him and you're just another person.

But all of these people just flock to him like crazy. And so you can tell that he is happy to meet them. He's grateful to meet them. but he just wants to be a normal person where he can just, you know, relax for a second and just enjoy the festivities, but he never can because he's a mega superstar. And so it was kind of some of those types of stories where he would just, you know, tell us, you know, these things that happened to him in his life. And it was so funny and he was so charismatic.

And then doing these press conferences for my fights for these main events or these co-main events, excuse me, that I've been a part of, he would get on the horn with me. and trade information of what I was going to say or give me ideas of how I can make it a work and all of these great tidbits and tips for me to be able to say on stage. And so I was trying to put a little Venezuelan Vixen spin on it, but at the same time it was some of the encouragement that he had given me to make me more confident to go out there and just start being myself. And so it was really exciting because before those press conferences,

He would tell me what he thought I should say or how I should phrase it. And then after the press conference, he said, girl, you killed it, you know? So he would just, you know, get on the phone before and after. And, you know, we traded back surgery stories and our back injuries and things like that. And so there was many times that I spoke with him that he was just nothing but love and charisma and encouragement. And, you know, he was just one of a kind, like you said, salt to the earth type of people. I can't imagine what it would be like to be on a stage like that to do a press conference and then get pointers from Hulk Hogan.

You know what I mean? Like the type of confidence you would get from that and also like validation and just like that this dude is watching your stuff and commenting on your stuff and giving you props. I mean, he's the greatest of all time in many people's eyes as far as sports entertainment is concerned. And you also get pointers from time to time from Rick Flair too, right?

You get the two goes. Yeah, no, that's what I'm saying. These guys are like mega super. But if you actually talk to them, they're just regular people, you know? And so that's that kind of side that I was able to see that maybe not everybody else was able to see. They just only view them as like this superstar that they like demand things from. Like you have to take this picture. You have to do this.

But like you could just tell that they're just normal, you know? As far as fighting, you're expecting to fight in 2026, right? Yes. It won't be in 2025. I don't think so. Yeah, that's too soon. Maybe. I mean, it's possible.

I haven't heard anything from the promotion as far as them, you know, calling me, but I would, I would like to fight in 2026. I would like to fight at the White House. I would love to fight at the White House. That's the one, right? That's the one that I want. Would you want to fight before that? Or is that timeline actually better for you because it's a little? Again, I'm not putting too much pressure on myself as far as like I need to get back by this day.

I think if when I get back into fighting form and when I feel like the time is right, I guess I'll decide that I'm ready to take a fight again. But what would I like in a perfect world would to be sitting there in the White House lawn watching Amanda and Kayla and being like, I got next. Oh, okay. So you don't want to actually compete. You just want to be the one sitting there in the front row. I just want to sit there and harass them like they've been harassing me for my last three fights. It's ridiculous. It would be nice to just sit there and watch the show and eat some popcorn like they've been doing to me for the last three fights. Who would you want to win? Because there's an obvious storyline with both. Who would make more sense for you?

I think a trilogy with Amanda would be the best case scenario just because we have shared so much time inside the Octagon. But then I would also love to fight Kayla again because I know that I can beat her. And I just feel like given the circumstances that I've been facing for these injuries that I've been trying to, you know, get over the hump and get inside the octagon and actually fight. Like, I think that if I could get into a fight camp healthy with having all of these injuries healed, I can beat her. I know I can. You said in the immediate aftermath, you won next. Do you feel like you are going to get next? I don't know.

I don't think so. But, I mean, in a perfect world, I would absolutely love that. I don't see why not. I've seen stranger things happen inside the U.S. for the women's band and all of the women's divisions, to be honest. Do you feel as though there's anyone else? Like, right now, at 135, there's something, there's Norma Dumont, but there's no, like, sure thing. So do you feel like that works in your favor?

As far as getting the immediate rematch with either one of those? Yeah, like there aren't a ton of roadblocks, you know what I mean? Like, there isn't like, oh, this person's been waiting for 10 years, you know, that type of thing. That's what I'm saying. I mean, like I said, there's, I don't see, I haven't seen anybody else say that they want to fight Amanda or Kayla, except me, you know? So I'm willing to fight either one of them. And if I could, you know, jump right into an immediate rematch with either one of them, I think that that would be the best case scenario. I don't see any roadblocks to it, but maybe the promotion has other ideas.

I'm not sure. And so let's see how that all plays out. Just curious, who do you, I asked you who you want, but who do you actually think wins the fight? I, I don't know. I don't know. I think, like, my head says Amanda, and my heart says Kayla. So, I don't know. It's made the best woman win.

I don't have anything personally against either one of them. You don't? I thought you did. I've grown. I like this. I'm more mature now. I love this. This is wonderful. This is good because you just turned 21. Exactly. I just celebrated my 21st birthday in August and I'm a whole new woman. By the way, you were the first one to introduce me to Labuboos. And now I am happy to report that my daughter is obsessed with Labubu's, that my nieces are obsessed with them, that everyone's obsessed with

I had no idea. Oh, there they are. Yes. How many do you have? And why are they so expensive? These were gifts. Oh, my gosh. So I don't know how, well, I do know how expensive they are. I got my daughter, the Coca-Cola one, which was insane. Because just, I've never been to a pot-mart store. And they opened one up in the suburbs, and I went there. And the place is just crawling with people that are fighting over these boxes. But of course, being a fighter, I got my hands on one. and I got her the Coca-Cola version and so she was super stoked about that. How many do you have? Like you and your daughter combined? Four. Oh, that's it.

I thought you would have way more. We have some Lafoufus. Ah, yes, the Fugazis. We have two Lafoufus for real Lubuos. Now, and are you okay with your daughter like having it on her backpack? No. Okay, yeah.

My daughter did that and I was afraid someone was going to rip it off her backpack, you know? it's it's less about thinking that somebody's going to steal it, which is also one of the things where I'm like concerned about. And it's more about the fact that I know that it will be a distraction for her. Like look what I got. What you don't got, I got a little bit. You know what I mean? So

I won't let her take it to school. Which is the Holy Grail, like the one that you're dying to have? I would like the gray one with the rainbow teeth. I think that one's cute. I don't remember the name of that one, but that one's cute. But oh my gosh, I just heard, like, three days ago, they're going to do a Louis Vuitton and LaBouou collab. Oh, dang. That's big time. Yeah. I definitely would love to get my hands on that one. But I feel like now that, like, I had them

before, I remember I was asking you, like, I want a Labubu, and then I ended up getting one. And now that I have them and I love them and I like to change their clothes and stuff, there's a part of me where I'm like, they lost their mystique a little bit just because everybody's, like, obsessed with them now, you know. Obviously, I love mine. I still carry mine, but I'm like, they don't quite hit the same, you know? It used to be like a secret thing, and now it's like everybody's got it. By the way, who's sending you these flowers for the six weeks, post-op, the Lubbuboos? Who are these people sending you these things? An incredible friend. Okay, I love it. Tremendous.

Yes. Congratulations on the RAF news. October 25th, Fox Nation, at Penn State, which is a As everyone knows, a breeding ground for incredible wrestlers, including Bo Nickel, who, of course, was successful on RAF1, who's going to be competing at MSG, so probably a little too tight for him. But I'm sure he'll be front and center and so many others as well, head coach at Penn State, Kail Sanderson, among many other legends that have been there.

I love the fact that you're involved. You're tremendous on the mic when you've done the Kambate stuff. It's always been great, such a great, you know, personality and presence on camera. So well done on their part. Thank you for the kind words about Tom, our friend at the beginning of the show. And again, I apologize for putting you on the spot there. But I thought that you knew.

And at least I was happy that we were able to honor him a little bit. So I hope that that was okay. And thank you so much, Juliana. I really appreciate it. Glad to hear that you're doing better. And great to see that we're back in each other's good graces. And we'd love to have you back in studio, by the way. Everyone missed.

Guys, don't you miss Giuliana back there? Doesn't everyone miss? Absolutely. Yeah. Always welcome to rejoin the parlay palpit. Yeah. Oh, that's right. Pizzie's been blowing it. Pizis. Yeah, it's been a thing.

They're wondering when you're going to come back, but like no pressure, no pressure. No, no. Pizzi ruined it. He killed the dead. Why'd you have to kill this, G.C. Why'd you have to bring him up? Pizzi killed it. Yeah, no, Pizzi killed it. You reminded me, though. Thanks, G.C. I forgot about that, but I remember now. That's loyalty. We remind you of the feuds. Merry Christmas, Julian. Check out R.A.F, too. It's going to be live on Fox Nation. You guys are going to

catch Kyle Snyder versus Mason Parrish, Roman Bravo Young versus Nathan Tomasillo, the RFA champs putting his belt on the line against the two-time champ from Penn State, who wrestles for the Puerto Rico team. So there's some awesome matchups. There might be like a Helen Morales down the line. And Gable Stevenson, if you're listening to this, wouldn't you want to get revenge against Wyatt Hendrickson or Wyatt Hendrickson who has a win over you? Like, come on, dude, you got to come to RIF,

come and get paid to do the thing that sets your soul on fire that you're passionate about, which is wrestling so come on come and get that revenge brother i love it i love it uh looking forward to it thanks for coming on juliana i appreciate it thanks for having me guys take care she is the great juliana pania the venezuelan vixen uh always great to have her on great to see her in good spirits great spirits and great to see that she is a part of the raf family all right uh more to come we're going to talk about the chris eubank connor ben press conference that has wrapped up in london show you some of the highlights there was some good stuff there other news and notes as well including the new location for the Jake Paul Tank Davis fight

on the same day, November 14th, but there is a new location. We'll talk about that. But now so very excited to say hello to our next guest because, as I said at the top of the show, some have said that she is the best thing in pro wrestling today, and I'm not just saying that because she's standing by. Some have said that she has the best character gimmick,

whatever you want to call it in pro wrestling today, best women's pro wrestler today. And I've asked several others, like, am I off base? If I say this, absolutely not. She's on fire. She's a part of the all-elite wrestling roster. She's going to be a big part of the all-out show this Saturday, all-out 2025 at the Scotia Bank Center in beautiful Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Some have said that she is a legend and that she is timeless.

She is the one and only the pride of both New Zealand, Australia, and England, Tony Storm. Kind enough to join us on this Wednesday afternoon. There she is. Hello, Tony. How are you? No, how are you? Can you hear me? I can hear you just fine.

Lovely. It's, you look lovely. This is quite the setup you've got. Well, I know that you're used to sometimes talking to, you know, some of the Gibroni wrestling media. But now I've lost you. Now your connection has died on us. Ah, what a start. she looks fantastic by the way

she looks timeless can we reconnect with her absolutely okay she is the current AWW women's world champion she has held that title since February of 2025

there's the four-way match that she's going to be a part of this Saturday at all out yesterday we spoke to the one and only ricochet about his involvement on the card I told you that Adam Copeland and Christian Cage are going to be coming together in the main event and obviously they have a long and rich history

of Toronto wrestling. I did get word that the internet was a little spotty there so I don't know if the best thing is to go like on LTE or Wi-Fi. I'll let you guys figure that out but I did get word. She's at the arena right now because they're doing a three-hour September to remember dynamite broadcast tonight on TBS. They're also going to be doing a one-hour pre-show on Saturday on TNT which will lead into the pay-per-view,

which you can get on HBO Max here in the United States, Amazon Prime, throughout the rest of the world. And that will be in the afternoon, and Saturday is going to be a very important and big day in the world of professional wrestling

because there's both the All-Out show and then there's the Russell Paloosa show that is the first WWE event on ESPN. I think Rising Tide lifts all boats. I think that the two of them going head to head, so to speak, AW is going to be first. So they're not actually going to air at the same time.

But side by side actually brings more awareness to both in a crazy way, sort of like the old Monday Night War days. And so I actually think that this is a good thing for pro wrestling fans. And I'm going to be locked in. I'm going to be locked in. So as you can see there, she has this sort of, you know, old school silver screen. her promos are unbelievable

the one recently regarding Mercedes Monet was amazing her feud with Mariah Mae who is now since left and signed with WWE was incredible stuff she is really a you know she's she's really hitting it out of the park and it's a completely different

persona it's a completely different character than the one that she had in in WWE in WWE she was more of a punk rock if you will star who never really quite got off the ground, who never really quite got going, never really got that big moment, that big break. And certainly she has said in subsequent interviews that she was a little bit frustrated and felt her love of pro wrestling dissipate as a result of

the state of her career at that time. But she seems to be tremendously happy in all elite wrestling and she seems to be in a great place. And it shows. It comes across. She started her pro wrestling career, by the way, at age 13, believe it or not. Have we been able to reconnect with her? No, they're efforting.

Okay. She also said recently that she signed a five-year deal with All-Leed, and she wants to be a lifer there. So she seems extremely happy. We've got a lot of great coverage. over on uncrowned.com regarding this big day in pro wrestling the team over there everyone does such a great job drake anthony robert kell raj phil shaheen of course our fearless leader am i forgetting anyone i hope not they do such a great job of covering pro wrestling

and they do it in a professional and honest way. And I love it. I really do love it. And it's great to see a consistent home. I mean, I suspect now ESPN is going to cover pro wrestling a lot more regularly, which is great. But I don't know if any other major outlet is covering it like that. Is she back? Tony, are you there?

Tony, can you hear me? Okay, okay, we're working through it. We're working through the Kings. We're working through the Kings. This is, okay, Tony, can you hear me? me. Ariel, I'm so sorry. I'm not tech savvy.

No, it's okay. I understand. This is a... I'm sorry about the lighting too. This is terrible. I'm so embarrassed. No, I was...

What can I do for you, Ariel? Well, it's so great to see you, and it's such an honor to have you on the program because you have been on some kind of role over the last couple of years. And I said, I don't know if you heard me, I said that one can make a very strong case that you're the best thing in women's wrestling today, and maybe even in wrestling, period today. What do you think about that statement? I mean, if that's what you believe, Ariel,

then I guess we're going to have to go with that. I can't really argue. Do you agree with me? Of course, darling. Don't make me sound like I've got a big ego here. No, I want to know. Some people will come on and be like, no, you know, I'm a work in progress. I don't quite feel that way. I'm an imposter, all these things. I deal with, you know, confidence issues. You agree with everything that I'm saying. So can I ask, why do you think it's working so well? I have no idea. It's just, this is who I am. I finally broke character.

I'm not a character anymore. Everything I've done before this was a gimmick. And I'm finally giving myself, giving you the real me. So it's just me. This is you. This is me. Are you having fun? I'm having a lovely time.

Are you having the best? Are you having fun? You know, when you say, are you having fun, and I say you're having fun, and then you respond that way, it almost sounds like you're not having fun. Oh, no, trust me, I'm having the time of my life. Is this the most fun? It's just the lighting's terrible, that's all. Yeah, how come we're not in a more glamorous setting? I've been screaming at everyone I've seen today. No one can give me a simple straight answer, so I do apologize.

No, it's okay. I appreciate you working through the, you know, the kinks for us here. Would you say this is the most fun that you've ever had in your career? I suppose so, yes. One could say that. Is it true you started as a 13-year-old in wrestling? That's very true, yes. Far too young.

But yes, I did start at that age. Were you actually wrestling at that age, or were you just doing like little spots here and there? I was wrestling. I started training in July 2009, and then by October that year, I had made my debut. Very, very small shows in Australia. And, you know, Australia wrestling wasn't really a thing at the time. But I started at 13 and I haven't stopped since, apart from the pandemic.

Sure, of course. What a depressing time that was, right? Yes, absolutely. Although, I do believe you got married during the pandemic. Ah, yes, I did. Yeah, so it doesn't seem... I'm a married woman now. Doesn't seem all that depressing.

Not depressing at all. No, that was quite the highlight. I was a little disappointed. I didn't get to save the date. Oh, no, darling. We didn't have a wedding. You just went to the local court hall, right? Courthouse? Oh, yes. It took care of it. Just took care of it. Even after the fact, no celebration, no party. There's no one I like enough to invite. So I figured we're just going to have to get it done. your husband he's okay with your your lifestyle now right like your your persona the real you

i bloody well hope so right he hasn't had much of a choice okay um and and and so your parents back then i'm just curious about this 13 because i have a 13 year old son and i can't imagine him wrestling in front of audiences right now your parents were okay with this yes my mother uh she was uh she didn't like it at first uh she still probably doesn't but she was supportive not Nonetheless, she, you know, she eventually started getting into it and would come to all the shows and she would make my little costumes. And, yeah, she's been very supportive, very supportive of me. That 13-year-old young girl, was this her dream, what you're living out right now? Is this what she was thinking of? Or is this too far? Like, have you exceeded your own dreams? I have completely exceeded all expectations I had for myself. I can say that for certain. What were your expectations?

Dove. I didn't think I'd make it this far But here we are I guess I didn't really have any I just had a dream And here we are Most 13 year old girls aren't dreaming of being a pro wrestler What was it about this industry

This art form that Captured your imagination I haven't the faintest idea Ariel I really have no idea why I'm so into this. You have no idea? The showmanship.

No idea. Let us... I can't remember. Is everything okay? Yes. Why? What's wrong? Well, I don't know, because I'm asking you about the love of your life, your industry.

You're on top of the world. And you say that you don't know why you love it. It's just a deep feeling I have inside of me. It's deep inside. It's spiritual. Okay. what did it take for this side of you to come out because as i said earlier when we would see you compete in w w you are a completely different human being so what was the turning point

i mean i have no idea really i mean uh of course there's uh there's our president tony khan and he's an appreciator of fine art and films. And to be honest, I don't know why he's involved in wrestling. There's so many other things he could be, you know, so many better uses of his time. But he's a cinephile, which is probably the best file that you can be. And he leads a massive team that's led us all into this world together. And there's cameras, lighting, music, directing.

and he paints a beautiful picture that I happen to be standing in the middle of. So, yes, I'm just a creation of President Khan. As far as the collaborative process with Tony Khan, is it that or is it you just coming up to him and telling him, I want to do X, Y, and Z? well there's there's a large team of writers that i have not met they're in warner brother's studio somewhere probably chain smoking and just they just pump out one sexual innuendo after the next and tony kahn gives me a live mic and uh the senses have their finger on the button and we all pray and uh yeah no it's it's been quite quite a ride As far as

the creative process Is it much different Than what you experience in WWE Is there more collaboration More people open to your ideas As opposed to what you experience In your previous In your previous stuff

I mean I suppose so But I get told no a lot Okay You'd be amazed The amount of times I get told no on things Every single week You know

Tony He keeps me rained in and but he's a bit of dream to work with. The only problem I have is that he hasn't brought me Wendy Richter. Yes, what's going on with Wendy? I've heard you talk about her as perhaps being your greatest rival. I keep asking. She keeps ducking and dodging me.

She's scared. Have you gotten in touch with her? Have you actually been able to make contact with her? No, no contact. I'm telling you, she's a bitch. It's a bitch. She won't fight me. Perhaps the key to her is Cindy Lopper.

have you tried that route I will now I will now that you've mentioned it okay you haven't thought of that before no no this is that's a great idea maybe I'll try that yes okay Saturday's a big day

not only for you personally but for the company right all out Toronto other than the one show in the pandemic in Jacksonville the first time outside of Chicago in Canada you're in a four way how are the vibes and here you are at the TV taping

right for September to remember tonight on TBS. Can you tell us how are the vibes heading into this massive day for the company? Well, I'm a little nervous. I'm not going to lie. I'm a little nervous. I have three very talented women coming after me, you know, so it's a big week. It's a big week for me. I'm, you know, as nervous as I should be, probably. What are you drinking? I have a little bit of electrolytes in a bottle of water. Don't worry, it's nothing like that. Okay, okay. What could I ask? It's such a privilege to talk to someone just a few hours before TV. We don't usually get this opportunity. What, what is life like for you, you know, some five or so hours before the red light goes on? What are you doing, you know, before the show starts? Other than talking to people like me. I, this is very normal for me. I do a lot of these. Okay, okay. And I spend the day just kind of faffing around until someone comes and gets me and puts me on the stage and hands me the microphone. And then, you know, it's all very normal.

stuff. Quite boring. Nervous? No, good God, no. No. I'm bored of being nervous. I've spent my life being nervous. I don't have time for it anymore. How did you get over it?

I got very, very bored of it. Okay, okay. Yes. Do you study, you know, entertainers, athletes, non-athletes, silver screen starlets of yesteryear to give you inspiration for when you're in front of the people no no i'm not inspired by anything

this is just what comes out it just all comes out just yes and then you just what i give to you yes there's no inspiration everyone's too bloody inspired by things these days everything's an inspiration there's no inspiration this is just me this is just me giving to you aerial

i love it that my favorite my favorite um dare I say, promo of yours was when you were in the ring and it was all black and you had the trench coat on and you were talking about Mercedes Monet. You remember that one just a couple months ago? No, I don't remember that one. Oh, okay. I thought that was brilliant. Thank you. Thank you. You bring a different layer to pro wrestling and we've seen the stuff that you've been, yeah, I've really been blown away by your work. Really? Yeah. Thank you. You feel like you get the respect that you deserve? No, never. No one ever gives me the respect that I deserve.

No, everyone just takes me for granted. It's a terrible, terrible thing. Because I won't be here one day. Sure. But not in the company. Because I heard you say you're a lifer, right? You said you signed a five-year-old. I'm a lifer, darling.

Yeah, you're never going anywhere. So at least in the company, you're at the very top, you feel like you get the respect that you deserve. It's still not enough. Okay. It's never enough. Never enough. I need more, more. Yes, we all want more.

Can I ask a hot topic going into this weekend, which I actually think is best for everyone? Of course you can. Ask me anything. Oh, thank you. W.W. and AEW going head to head. How do you feel about this? Wonderful. Here at All Elite Wrestling, we welcome some good, friendly competition. Do you consider it friendly? Of course. Of course it is.

You think this is good for everyone involved? Of course. How could it not be? Well, why, why, why, of course? It's just, you know, it's what you do, isn't it? It's big business, competition. Well, someone viewed as counter-programming as a threat, one trying to hurt the other. Oh, I don't think we're too worried about that.

We're having a great time. We're doing our thing, and we're putting on great shows, and we're entertaining people. And that's all that matters. We're just here for the people. This is all for the people. Yes. Do you even pay attention to what they're doing? Do you concern yourself?

No, there is way too much content. I'll never have enough hours in the day to consume it all. Sure. What about keeping tabs on people? You had this very famous feud with Mariah, right? Now she's over there. No. Yes.

Well, you know, we've all had relationships like Mariah, haven't we, that end in broken glass, fist fights, bloody kisses. What can I say about Mariah? God, we're just... She's a single most evil, cold-hearted bitch I've ever met in my life. I can honestly say that. And I'm glad that I've banished her.

I really did compromise her to a permanent end, but I'm a big fan of that Blake Monroe. Okay, okay. Do you keep tabs on what she's doing? I've seen a bit, but I don't like study it religiously. Okay. It's wonderful, wonderful.

Okay, okay, so that's good. That seems positive. Yes, of course it's positive. She's gone. She's not here anymore. What about the experience of being in Philadelphia at the old ECW arena? What was that like for you? Fantastic.

It's a home away from home. Well, how's that? Absolutely love it. It's good vibes. Okay. Good, violent vibes. I love it. I saw you doing the old Sandman thing with the beer and all that

Yes he gave me his uh his stick thing his Kendo stick And I used it yes I used it There it is personally given yes yes there is there's dad Yes I saw you on his podcast you had a great rapport with him Oh he's wonderful I just love the Sandman Who would have thought right that young girl all those years ago watching Pro Wrestling on TV in Australia would be hanging out with the Sandman and getting his

Kendo stick well maybe right maybe that's my inspiration maybe i'm just inspired by the sandman and i didn't even realize it yeah but it's it's quite the life to have that dream at such a young age and now be getting these kinds of honors from legends of the game yeah yeah the dream never changed was there a point where you thought that this would never come to fruition in the sense because i was watching an old interview with you and the great rene piquette on her old podcast and this was after you left w and just started with a w and you you had spoken about being quite unhappy with the pro wrestling business.

Did you think that maybe that was going to be it for you, that there would be no, you know, continuing of this dream? Yeah, you had no idea what was in store for me, really. I had no idea what the future held for me, but I'm glad I stuck it out and I'm still around because I'm having a great time. This was where I was meant to be all along. What if AW wasn't around? What do you think would have happened?

Probably never see me again. Right. Maybe Japan. Maybe a headache medicine. I don't know. Probably nothing. Probably wouldn't exist. We probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

Right. And so look at the potential that you've realized. Yes. No, you're right. No regrets. No ill will, but absolutely no regrets. What do you think of Mercedes? No.

my greatest rival yes well I won the match but she injured my butler so as far as I'm concerned it's not over okay I won't let it go

she's she's he literally snapped his penis penis off right off the bat it's terrible it's terrible what's happened to him yes how's he doing they're not good

okay not good at all no how would you be if your penis had been snapped off No, it sounds awful. It sounds like the worst thing of all time. Yeah, it's a terrible, terrible thing.

So, yes, God bless Luther, whatever happened to him. And is there someone in the locker room right now or on the roster, maybe outside of the roster who you haven't been able to compete against, and you'd really like to? Wendy Richter. I've been asking this for years now. Someone who's active. Nothing's happening.

What was that? Someone who's active. Oh. Oh, you've got Torre Wilson on your show today, don't you? That's right, yeah. She was lovely. She was on earlier. Why, you want to call her out?

I pick her. Oh, my gosh. Yes, can you leave my contact information for her, please? For sure, for sure. Have you ever met her? Briefly. Not as much as I'd like to meet her, meet her. Okay, okay.

We'll work on that. I'll send it over to you. I don't even have your contact information, if I'm being honest. oh well I'll have my people reach out to your people yes you're hard to get to so there's a lot of buffers in between us yes it's like most most of the guests that we have on the show we text DM email but with you that I had to go through several layers of handlers I'm not tech savvy yeah as you can see as soon as I appeared on this

the whole system went kaput I'm not I'm not good on the old technological side of things sure sure I'll let you go in a moment because I know that you have a very busy day there with a lot of stuff catering and stuff like that, pretty good. Anything exciting on the menu? Decent. Decent, yes. Hopefully there's some curry.

Yeah, you like curry? I love it. It gets me really fired up. What I like most about, if you don't mind me saying, your accent is it's not quite Australian and it's not quite English. It's sort of like a mix of both. I don't know what happened to it. I don't know what happened to it.

I wish I sounded like an American. I love the American. accent, but I can't do a good one. I think you do a phenomenal, whatever this accent is, I think you should keep it. Well, thank you. Okay. But I really do wish I sounded American. I'm going to keep practicing. I had a gentleman named the Maven on my show a couple weeks ago. Are you familiar with Maven? I've heard of a Maven, yes. He does a brilliant job on YouTube, and he was talking about the one time he was backstage at AEW, and he was really blown away by how it all went. he hadn't been in a backstage setting in about 20 or so years,

so perhaps he can't compare it to today's backstage in WWE, but he was very glowing with his praise of the, you know, just the comings and goings backstage and the entire mood. Would you share that sentiment? Do you think it's a good place? Absolutely. Yes. It's good vibes all around.

It's a hell of a team. Love being here, proud of everyone here, proud of everyone that works here and puts in the hard work. And our president, Tony Kahn, is just an absolute dream to work for. And he's a, you know, he's a really good man. And I think because of that, we just want to give him everything we've got. Wow. That's beautiful. I love that.

Yes. I love him like family. Wow. Okay. Because I thought maybe you had a bit of a love-hate relationship, but it seems like it's genuine love. Well, there is the issue with Wendy Richter, and then, you know, sometimes he has to rein me in a bit. Apparently, some things are deemed far too inappropriate.

Sure, sure. But he's a very good man. Okay. Very good man. Yes. There were a lot of people excited that you were on the program today. What do you want to say in closing to these supporters of yours who seem to really back you and support and want to will you to the top of the business? I say, thank you for everything.

And keep supporting All Elite Wrestling. It's a wonderful time. Join us for more good vibes. Okay. Thank you so much, Tony. All the best you. Congratulations on all your success, on all the great work that you're doing.

And we look forward to seeing you not only tonight, September to Remember on TBS, three-hour show. Plus, we've got a tailgate brawl at 2 p.m. on Saturday on TNT prior to the All-Out 2025 pay-per-view extravaganza. which is happening on HBO Max here in the United States, and of course, Amazon Prime internationally, and then 3 p.m. is the pay-per-view.

Did I get all of that? Did I miss anything? I think you got it, there, Ariel. Good job. Will you be there? I will not be there. I live in New York City, but I would like to attend an event one of these days. Would I be welcome? Yes. Absolutely. Come and check it out.

Come and experience some of the good vibes. Okay. Well, I look forward to that. Hopefully we'll be able to see you in action. all the best to you. Good luck tonight and good luck on Saturday. Thank you so much, my dear. Take care now. All the best two. There she is. The one and only tireless Tony Storm. What a character.

What a personality. And yeah, she's in action and she's doing great things. She's doing great things. She just picked up a big win over Sky Blue, had a feud with Mariah May, who she banished, as she said. and also a feud with Mercedes Bonnet, who you may recall, was in WW for many years as Sasha Banks. Can I ask something?

Yes. Sounds like in the thing with Mercedes that the butler's penis something? Yes. What happened to the but... Wait, wait, wait. You thought that you misheard her? Yeah, it sounds like she explicitly said snapped his penis off. Yeah, multiple times.

Then asked Ariel how he would feel as if his penis was snapped up. Can that happen? Butler. What happens to the Butler? Luther? Yes, but did this happen in AEW, like in the storyline? Oh, yeah. Oh, that's a real thing. Oh, yeah. Oh, this poor man. Poor Luther.

Who's the guy? There was an MMA guy that this happened to. Oh, boy. You don't remember. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Yeah, I know who. This happened to the guy in real life or it happened in the storyline. Oh, Rick, you know exactly. I know who this happened. Oh, yes, it just occurred to me in the moment.

Do we talk about it? No. Let it sleep in dogs live. No, this actually. happened. Penises can be... Some will grab them by them twisted?

Connor, are you asking me if that was a worker or a shoot? I'm asking if the penis snap is a worker or a shoot. I actually don't. It has happened in real life. It has happened in real life to someone we all know.

What? Yes. Snapped off? No, no, no. Oh, okay. Just like sprained. Was it John Wayne Bobbitt? Was that his name?

Who got a cutoff? That's the real. Then someone did the drill on the... And then, of course, Bryce Mitchell. Getting closer. And then there was a guy who was involved in the MMA business who broke it. Oh, he was involved in an MMA business.

Not a fighter. He is involved. He is a fighter. Former fighter, now maybe a manager slash... Something. Yeah. Companion. And broke it.

In a fight? No, no, not in a fight. Not in a fight. Ali? No. Anyway. Ali snapped the penis? Condolences to Luther

Hope he gets better Wasn't aware that the butler Had his penis Oh I thought this was just something that happened In the in the Like yeah In like a work Oh no no

This is real deal Wow I hope he's okay She's an interesting character Look I think if we're being honest She was in character for The majority of that All of that There were moments that I think she wasn't

I think it was like a 90-10 But I sort of Internet was from the 30s Yeah that's true That's a good point. But I enjoyed it. And look, I can understand some people saying they wouldn't enjoy it or saying, hey, remember when you spoke to Sasha Banks and she remained in character and you've said that you didn't like that? And that's 100% a great point.

Her character is so over the top that you almost have to stay in character, I guess. I agree with that portion. Like, the gimmick is the life now. Yeah. She has to kind of, the Undertaker for many years just was the. Undertaker. You can't really, like, do the other guy until there's a certain point where that ends, but... The Undertaker character wouldn't have worked as well if he was doing interviews out of character in the midst of all that, when he was the dead man who never spoke. That's my...

I'm okay with it. You know what's brilliant about this? Now that I think about it a little bit, no one is doing that anymore. So while I wouldn't be in favor of it, because everyone is going, like, literally... That's interesting. You know what I mean? She's going 1984 route, which works with the old school character. Wendy Richter by the way. Never break hayfabe, ever. Ever. I think we looked it up. Wendy Richter is like a 65-year-old wrestler. Yes, yes, yes. So would

that's, she always talks about wanting to beat her up because she was a part of like, she called her a bitch. Rock and wrestling, 1984 days. She was like the WWF champ. I like your, I love Sandy Lopper. I like, I like that. So she was in the feud that was the wrestling match. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Wow, 40 years ago? Yeah, yeah. I think you're right though.

There is, there is something charming, slash appealing about the like old school kfabe never like everyone's breaking it so i'm going to be the only one to keep it but also it's just like a chart like if somebody walked around talking like that on the street it's also kind of fascinating right if somebody had that kind of yeah lilt and demeanor and voice i think it's uh i dug it i thought i thought she was quite it was a fun break from the norm yeah and honestly doing it on a show day is not normal so i appreciate her and no no She said she does it. Normal day. Yeah, I guess.

That's how she gets there. I do a lot of these. I do a lot of these. Yes. Getting the electrolytes in and then putting on the show. Wrestling's a fun place. I'm telling you, before it's all said and done, I got it. Being backstage at a wrestling event is so much fun.

You just got formally invited by... I think I got formally invited to watch the event. I don't think I got formally invited to be backstage. 3999 on Saturday on HBO. I'll be there. I'll be there. 100%. guys there's a lot that we need to get to

we had a press conference for the Chris Eubank versus Connor Ben event that's going down November 15th now I haven't been able to watch anything so I'm almost I've seen titles I've seen Darshan of everything boxing fame on Twitter go follow him he's the best

I've seen stuff but what can you tell me about what transpired because it seemed like there was some spicy stuff Chris and Eddie got into it and Chris was in rare form as actually it's not rare for him for Chris if you're being honest. Like, he is the best at this, in my opinion.

Eddie tried to kick off the press conference by giving a few moments to Ricky Hatton and Chris Eubank was not allowing that. Serious. I believe we have the- Okay, show me everything. Because here's the other thing, here's the other thing. I did see Conor Ben show up in an old school man city kit, right? And I think that he was wearing the old school blue man city kit in honor of the late

great, Ricky Henn who, of course, is, is a long time. There he is. Oh yeah, I love that. Blue Heart hashtag the hitman. Okay, please, I'm dying to watch this stuff. What do we got? Tell me. Well, just firstly, Jamie, obviously, just a couple of, you might, just going to say 30 seconds about Ricky Hatton. No, there's no third. Chris, Chris, one second. You know the drill. Chris, Chris. You know the drill. I'm not

going to say. You are some asshole, you are. Anything you say. Okay. Then don't listen to any. I'm an asshole. I'm a bad guy. No, no, I'm in this. All I was going to do is say a few words about Ricky Hatton. Okay, I won't say anything about... Move on with the press conference. You're an asshole. You talk shit.

You get what's coming to you. It doesn't matter. You can do that. We know the drill. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. So Eddie wanted to pay respect to Ricky Hatton and Chris wanted nothing to do with it. He does not want to hear his voice. The Chris Eddie rivalry is the best.

As good as the Chris Conner rivalry in my book. I want Chris to only fight matchroom fighters after this fight, just so that we just keep getting this. Yes, yes. Okay, what else? He made his really serious accusation that Eddie Hearn and Matrum blocked him from being able to go to the hospital after the fight. Okay.

After the fight, due to severe dehydration, I'm putting an ambulance and I have to go to hospital. Actually, so dehydrated that one of the toe nails on my big toe fell off. It actually fell off. It's growing back about halfway now. But anyway... Jesus, it's not a toe nail. I'm in the ambulance.

And... You still got it? These scumbags blocked that ambulance from leaving the stadium for 20 minutes. Because this is all being noted because it's absolute waffle. 20 minutes. Waffle. Woffel. Waffle.

I'm laying there in a gurney. oxygen mask on the car cannot move they will not open the gates to let us leave sorry who won't open the gates now if this was a serious injury that I had sustained that 20 minutes

Chris I want to know who wouldn't open the gates it's important that 20 minutes you can't have been the difference between life and death you talk shit you did and while this was all happening Connor Ben and Eddie Hearn are in here talking to the media lying about how

I had a broken jaw and that was the reason why I was going to hospital. Bullshit artists of the highest... Chris, can we get one thing clear? Can you just confirm that you are accusing us? Yes. I am... Matrim? Yes.

Okay, say it. You guys brought me from going to out. Say it. Say it. Who else? Who else? Who are there been? Go on, say it.

Why was I... Say that Matrum stopped you from going to the hospital. I was like what, so you can try and sue me if a little lawyer. Not at all, I think you're talking about the wrong guy. Say it. These are the levels. You talk shit. We stopped you for going because your toenail was falling off.

Eddie, the last time you're up here, you were talking about how famous and popular you were, even more famous than me. No, that's impossible. You're the people's champ. You said it. No, you're getting stopped by grannies and children who are throwing themselves out. You're like you're the Pope. It's incredible. And even with half a toenail.

I can't believe it. But that's interesting. The fact is, you're telling us we stop your ambulance from going to the hospital. A glorified desk jockey. Desk jockey. That's what you are. Okay, that's interesting. Living off of the back of hardworking fighters, that's what you are.

So the fact that you can say, we're talking about how popular and... And care about how popular. What I don't have is someone lying about what happened on the night. to try and gain more popularity about your wake-up, about all the bullshit you want to come out with. You're playing the victim. You're playing the victim. And we see through you. I won the fight. Well done. We give you a respect. Yeah, I won the fight. But don't why, you accuse us of stopping the ambulance to go in from the hospital. We'll see. We'll see. You're an asshole. You talk shit. You get what's coming to you.

It doesn't matter. You can do that. Oh my God. You do not. You rarely see you. Eddie Hearn, that wound up. He's usually doing the winding. Clearly, Chris caught onto it. He wanted him to spell it out. First of all, that's a massive accusation. Massive, massive accusation. And Eddie is fucking pissed.

Well, he actually, on the afterward, on the reaction show or whatever, he talks about potentially suing. Before we do that, the reference to the grannies and the people's champ, Chris, Eubank, kicked off the press conference with like a five-minute soliloquy about him being the people's. champ and people and that is what Eddie's referencing so it's not just random like Chris did that and then Eddie is calling that back oh my gosh okay let's hear this I don't care about Chris Eubank Jr.

The guy for me is a fake and he's trying to make out that everything's stacked against him and what he accused us of was unforgettable and when you are serious about your company as we are and what it means to us trust me we'll deal with that

wow Okay, that's a threat. That is a threat. Well, and then lastly, the last accusation he made was the British Border Control and the weight cut and everything like that. This is what Chris Eubank had to say. Okay, okay. I want to talk about the British boxing border control. And more specifically, a man by the name of Robert Smith.

Uh-oh. this is the big boss behind the scenes the head honcho the man with all the power that controls everything that goes on in professional boxing inside of the United King is the guy's a big deal

now this idiot allowed a room full of media and cameramen into my private way in the day before the fight. That's right.

Is this when you were sabotaged? In the time that it took to get these people out contributed to me missing the weight. Chris, you turned up over an hour late. And getting fined 500K. You turned up over an hour late. He let Connor Ben

fight in gloves filled with horse hair, knowing it was a direct breach of the contract I had for this fight. On fight night, he personally escorts. an arch nemesis of mine, Billy Joe Saunders, to my changing room, to disrupt and try and ruin my preparations for the biggest fight of my life. So, and then afterwards he gets into the ring and is trying to shake my hand and congratulate me.

I mean, the ball's on this guy. It's viciously clear for me to see that this toad is not. nothing more than a puppet and a porn. I think he is in the back pockets of Wanchroom. Wow. Another one that's got it in for you. You are so unlucky with everything. So unfortunately, just another scumbag in this...

Oh, wow. You're calling the chairman of the British Boxing Board of Controller scumbag. The mask is slipping, Christopher. Oh, my dear. I can assure you that Connor Ben was there. Just... Yeah, he actually had a... He was there.

He hasn't said a thing yet. We answered the question earlier if it feels like this fight is lacking. I feel like it's all the way back. Someone asked me, I haven't gone into all the questions, but, oh, here's the faceoff. Here's the face off. How was it? Was there any talking? Nah, it was kind of reserved compared to.

By the way, I haven't seen Ben Shalom in quite some time. There he is. I would have like to see Eddie and Chris face off, if I'm being honest. Or Eddie and Ben. Also of note, I saw Beaumack. Oh, yeah, he's back with Chris Eubang Jr. Yeah, he was up there. Back in the UK,

had a bit of an incident there in the UK a couple years ago. How about it? No turkey in the middle. How many people do you think of eggs right now? Can I also say I like the look, like the yellow, the poster?

Very solid. Yeah, I like it too. One thing you have to say about the promotion for all of these events, always on, but like that, yeah, I mean, that is old school. Who's the, who's the, who's the, who's the marketing? marketing person behind it and why do they seem to get it right and no one else gets it right

I don't know yeah it's nice that's nice I like the it's almost like Hogan and warrior no no no Hogan and Savage mega powers explode November 15th nice crisp fall day at Tottenham Hotspur oh yeah that's right sign me up yo November 14 15th is pretty damn fun pretty damn fun yeah Jake Tank on Netflix followed by this followed by UFC Madison Square Garden and so let us get into Jake Paul versus Tank Davis. Reports had begun to circulate that this

this fight was in jeopardy but we have gotten the official announcement that it is being moved from your hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, G.C. To beautiful Miami. Coming to me, when it's on all night, to me, did it break it down. Go go to Miami.

This is very tough, writes Jake Paul on X, but this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and fight Tank Davis at the Kasea Center live on Netflix Gobli. That was my conclusion when I woke up this morning. Oh, yes. I do believe that's a nod to the famous LeBron James, Jim Gray decision interview in 2010. Can I tell you, can I, as someone who is working the event, I'm thrilled.

With all due respect to your beautiful hometown, which is a great place. Yeah. You know we love South Beach. very respectful. Yeah, respectful. We're losing all that money in tourism. Sounds respectful. We love, we love South Beach.

Say that to the public schools of Atlanta. It's great, but can't wait to get to Miami. You love South East, more than Atlanta as well. Me? Or him. This guy. Nah, no, no, that's home. Yeah, I prefer to live in Miami.

Sure, sure. CSA Center, home of the Miami Heat. Let's see if they're in town. Miami vibes on the poster? I like that. Yeah. There's no big fights in Atlanta. that's what we're trying to build

other than Burns and not Burns Usman and Freakin Buckley All-timer It was a legendary Wasn't Woodley and Lawler

Not gasolum UFC 201 Was he was there? Wasn't that in the Best fight ever was UFC 201 when Tiger Woodley knocked out Robbie Lala

Yeah see Wow look at my memory Wasn't it Porye Max and Gasol? Oh yeah Yeah. 236?

Oh, yeah. That's the one. A little back to back. Wednesday, November 12th. Miami Heat home to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Oh. They're actually at the Knicks on November 14th. They got really excited.

They're home for the Knicks on the 17th. I got super excited for a second. Just stay through. Yeah, maybe we will. Do a show out there, guys? What do you say? Let's do it. Did they give a reason of some kind, or was that it?

I did not see any. to appease one Ariel Hawan. Yeah, I appreciate it. From the A down to South B. Per request of Ariel Hawan who we have moved this show. You see, I do have some poll over there. I do have some pull. They are going to be doing a press conference next Monday in New York,

which I will not be a part of. In fact, you won't see me on Monday. Worth saying now, Monday's show will be live, but it will be the boys in the back doing the program, yes? Now, you guys are actually doing two shows. two shows next week, right? You're doing a Monday show and then the typical

usual Thursday show Pizzi doing the Friday show why will I not be there on Monday? It's because it's Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday, our new year, happy new year to all. I was looking for something. Happy New Year, happy new year.

But you will see me on Tuesday. We will premiere The Beat with myself, Pizzie Carroll, Chuck Mennonhall, and Ben Folks. That should be great. A little roundtable of sorts. And then on Wednesday, we'll be doing, is it volume three or volume four? I think it might be three, yeah, of our classic interview series where we play some old school interviews.

I give you some nuggets from those days, backstory, a little, you know, a little reminiscing, a little trip down memory lane. So very, very good stuff. So that's next week. And that's why I won't be here in studio and why I won't be at that. press conference, I will be at the Montreal event next Saturday, not this Saturday, next Saturday, September 27th, at the Theatres Saint-Denie. In the heart of Montreal, I haven't worked a Montreal event in quite some time. That's the MVP boxing Montreal event.

So I am looking forward to that on the 27th of September. And then I'll be back on the 29th. We actually have a couple big guests already lined up for the 29th. A couple other things. Did you guys watch Dana White's contenders here? True or false? Are you guys locked into Consender Series? Are you? I have been a couple weeks. I have. I was not this week. There was a great scene regarding a young man whose father passed away just a couple of days ago, right? His name, Hecker Sosa. Word came out that his father died of cancer remained on the card, won, and then had a very nice exchange I thought with UFC President Dana White. Here it is. Oh, we don't have it. Okay. Okay. I saw the old check mark there, so I figured that was, was that a preemptive?

Okay. Do we have the picture? Okay, so he left him a note and this, this is it from Dana White. Be the fucking reason, your last name means something one day. And so I guess he gave him that. and there was a nice exchange afterwards which they posted on social media which I thought seemed very nice and heartfelt from Dana so let it be known that I wanted to highlight it and play it the powers that be have stopped me from doing so you see they're trying to stop they're trying to stop the amends from being made do you understand okay now we have life can be very strong

being people and bad things. Life has been very, very wrong to overcome mentally and emotional. What do you overcome? They're going to win, man. I'm really happy for them and I wish you all the best in the UFC. That's what you do. There's much good for a lot of

that was going to pass to pass through that RET is what you're saying that's for what I'm going to

say, that's that's great stuff. Also, by the way, do want to give a shout

out, I forgot to do this on Monday. Seeing Fabiano up there with Canello in the

post-fight interview on Saturday actually gave me so much joy. I love Fabiano. He is so genuine. He's so nice.

He is so heartfelt. And, seeing him on that massive stage in front of millions of people was pretty damn cool. It felt like one of us, you know? He's one of our own. He's one of our own. Fabiano Buske, he's one of our own. What about Yeri?

I saw this tweet of Yerr Pohasca, who's getting ready for his fight against Kalil Roundtree on October 4th. This is rapidly approaching, by the way. It's only just a couple of weekends away now. Look at this. This guy is chiseled, looking ready to go. I can't wait. What a fight. Those three fights are amazing.

Oh, so good. What are the other two on that pay-per-view? It doesn't really even matter, to be honest. Sure, there's a Kevin Holland fight in there somewhere. Sure, sure, sure. I saw an interesting quote from Mark Shapiro, the C-O and president of TKO, who are all over the place.

He was talking to the Pucks John Orand, who does a great job with his podcast and his newsletter about the business of sports media, talking about the negotiations with Netflix to bring the UFC rights over there, quote, there was one moment of disappointment, and that was when we were getting pretty close with Netflix, frankly, and they kind of stood by the fact that they didn't want to have the volume, meaning the amount of events. So we all thought that they wanted to go to Netflix, top choice, and then they wanted to maybe stay with ESPN. They have already said in other

interviews that it was clear that ESPN wouldn't meet their number so they pivoted to WW. And by the way, that's a great spot to be in if you're TKO. Oh, hey, you don't want this entity? Well, let me show you this entity and let me show you this entity with the amazing fan base that is going to travel and sign up and support and prop up just like this entity would and you're getting the same amount of premium events without maybe the, you know, the pay-per-view price tag and all this stuff. and at a cheaper cost, right? So it works out well when you could do that.

Speaking of that WWE event on Saturday on ESPN, WrestleMania, Triple H himself, Paul Levick, announcing that the theme song for this event, they are going all out with this one. This is WrestleMania-esque, is going to be one of my favorite songs of all time. Who's called him offo? Who's got a moffo? who's kind of my phone is it stay say is it kisha is it dang dang you guys know that song is it

yeah of course many songs is you have a phone yeah oh man they just choose whatever the best songs 40 is and and and pay top dollar for it who knows what drake charged him for it is uh as long as fiend's gone i'm cool oh yeah Paine, every fucking commercial, everything. That was his theme song. Fien with the Yeat, I almost lost me. Cricket Wireless Yeet commercial? I don't see, I don't see Kendrick getting any wrestling theme songs right now.

I'm just saying. He just did the Super Bowl. I mean, no big deal. Yeah, Super Bowl. Ressal Palusa, Super Bowl 60. No, wait, let's not get crazy. Drake's not performing there, so you can compare the two. I'm just saying.

Right, right. I agree. Who's hotter right now? Who's hotter right now? Who's more beloved right now? Keep my fault. Kendrick, I think, is still more beloved. No, we're still Team Drake, though, actually.

You flipped me, and... Oh, for real? I actually have always been Team Drake. Oh, okay. Wow. This is great. You act like we're, like, coming after your boy. No, no, no, no.

You do have to respect. There was one... By the way, there was once a time, if you said... This is the truth. You know this. If you said you were Team Drake, you were getting canceled. True or false? Cancel? People were trying

You remember Steph Curry You remember Steph Curry People are like Yo, he should be canceled Shut off, dude This is so crazy They were getting flamed for sure Steph Curry were like

Maybe he won the beef actually If you go back and listen to The Carter's or whatever it was Maybe he did have something there Nah people were getting roasted Anyway More questions A couple more questions

Let's try to appease the audience Ryan Holland says When are you guys doing a road shot outside of America? G.C. seems pumped. What is it happening? Well, if I'm being 100% honest, we were going to do one on November 14th in New York. We had the venue.

We had everything in place. And then we were called to Atlanta and then Miami. Who the fuck is we? That's a good point. It's a good point, Frank. It's a great point, Frank. We need to do one. We need to do one.

The dream has always been England. Then Australia. Ireland. Ireland, Canada would be great Isn't Ireland in England? No Just kidding

To fill in some holes from earlier The last two fights on 320 Are GC's Super Bowl As proclaimed by one Ariel Halwani Joe Pfeiffer versus Avis Magametteov How could I have forgotten? That's my guy

And you're a guy I was going to say no You told me that Avis is my guy As well as Joe Piper Josh Emmett Us of the law okay well that's a good card man that's a great that's a great main card elite um aaron yo boys

let's break the fourth wall just wondering upon reflection if you think it was the right call to not address gc leaving the watch party it was really odd to never mention it and just lead to atlandish comments in the chat new york rick was great in his garth moment but couldn't someone just have mentioned that gc is driving the porcelain bus and we could have all moved on it was great to have just one camera nearerick though while we have while we all heard the door closed behind G.C. Love the show. Listen, can I say? I do agree. What's wrong with saying he's not feeling well?

Yeah. Nothing. There was no protocol for the situation. It's never happened. And it never will happen. It's a bit personal. It's a bit sensitive. I'm going to. What if you got serious? Blowing it out in the bathroom. Toronto, Mike D. True or false?

Gable Stevenson. And by the way, it's not Stephen. as this guy writes it's steveson is somewhere on the white house card prelims possibly true or false is gable steveson you know it's funny you say that

uh toronto mike d because i think a really interesting topic for a program would be if gable steveson is the next big thing while he asks about being on the white house card yeah it's almost like one super trumps the other uh is he in the ufc

this time next year I think he's taking the bone nickel A few Dana White Contender Series and you're in Is he on the White House card? No. No. I think it'll be later. Too soon. I think he's yeah, he's probably making his debut around this time next year. G.C. Patrick McRate, favorite segment of the week.

Blind rank these Georgia football players. This again. I know, but I... Last week's was really good. I felt like I nailed it. A couple of people said Todd should have been over Brock, but, man, what Brock was able to do a couple national championships, you know. Matthew Stanford.

Now, is it Stafford or Stanford? I mean, it's Stafford. He's still in the league today. He's still a starting quarterback today. Yeah, I even know, Matt. Super Bowl champion, number one overall pick. Let's go Matt Stafford at two. David Pollack.

David Pollack, who also is still in the media today. It was on college game day for a while. Legend, Cincinnati Bengals, unfortunate neck injury, some all-time moments. Carolina rips the ball out in the end zone touchdown. Let's go three, though. Let's go three.

Stenson Bennett. God, bless these names. Stetson Bennett. Two-time national champion. He ain't doing shit now. He's on the booze now. Oh, damn. Two-time national fan.

We'll go one. We'll go one. Rokan Smith. Oh, my God. That's two right there. Roquant Smith. Also in the league right now. Unbelievable linebacker.

one of the best defensive players I've ever seen before in my life I mean the closing speed the lateral speed on this guy he should be two but I guess four that's where the slot is so in the end Stafford was one

yeah no Stafford was two Stetson one Stetson over Champ Bailey You never said Champ Bailey Fuck I skipped Champ Bailey Jesus Christ You know why I skipped him

because that's the one that I knew Denver Broncos I can't believe you don't You didn't know these other guys All right so if I'm doing it I'd probably go, I'd probably go Champ Roquan, Stetson, Stafford Pollock, but all five are legends.

Legends, all in there. Would you say your favorite sports team is Georgia football? It's not even remotely a conversation, yes. Grew up on it, my dad went there. You went to school there, family ties, yeah, Georgia, no doubt. Hunter Biden's crack pipe asks,

Ariel, just want to bring your attention to the staggering percentage of your guests that say it's tough at some point over the course of your interviews once you hear it you can't unhear it i think we need to praise the amount of self-control frank has for not hitting the gc drop every time it happens especially in the moments where they're being vulnerable and it would be highly inappropriate it is you imagine it is very hard sometimes i'm even like at home and my wife says it's tough and i'm like yeah and then she's like would you knock it off i'm trying to tell you that we're having a serious talk we need to start collecting the guests saying it's tough

like infinity stones so we can just rotate who says it i feel some type of way about bud being the only it's tough now like don't don't ignore the o gc i don't i don't want it to only be bud now i'm kind of one is are you ignoring the times i've hit the gc one no you're hitting bud too much bud bud so it's fresh it's a new toy yeah exactly you shouldn't executive produce yourself no i need i need more gc back i need more gc the bud one is fantastic i probably hit his more than i've hit no no no no could you imagine Imagine if, like, there's a guest on, like, even like earlier, Tori's talking about, like, anxiety and all this shit, and then he just drops. It's tough.

Sometimes my finger inches over to the don't care. I'm like, oh, man, what's happened? Oh, my, we don't care. You're going to accidentally do it, and we're going to be fucked. What's the fuck is going on, bro? Oh, my God. Yo, Ariel, as a journalist friend, wonder what your thoughts are on Pablo Tori's recent run from the NFL collusion case to the Clipper salary cap circumvention. I mean, throw in the Bill Belichick situation with his girlfriend.

Pablo is one of the best sports journalists in America. His podcast is great. We all have friends that work on the show behind the scenes. They do a great job. Their production value is great. Their reporting is great. Their research is great. I'm very happy for him because he kind of bet on himself.

He left the SPN and teamed up with the metal art guys and now is doing stuff with the athletic. And I think he's still part of the metal arc fan. family. It's just, it's, it's, it's, it's amazing to see him beating or out scooping or whatever it is, the major networks and then them having to say, uh, earlier today, Pablo Torre finds out, it reminds me of, you know, like, it's just like when, when, you know, when the, the little podcast, the little engine that could makes it big. Now he, he's a incredible reporter, host, journalists, whatever you want to say. So he's not the little engine that could. But, you know, he's trying to get something off the ground. So it's great for his, um, his YouTube

channel for whatever he's trying to build. So really, really impressive. The Kauai thing seems to be an onion that has many different layers to it. And good on him for, I spoke to him a little bit during the Bill Belichick thing. And, you know, your life gets turned upside down when a story of that magnitude gets broken because you have people who are coming after you who are saying you're full of shit who are saying you're a liar who are saying it's not true

who are questioning your stories every time I open X he's engaged in a battle with Mark Chubin over this story it's crazy stuff so much respect him he says your two appearances

on his show where some of my favorite things you've done so my question if you were to go on again what MMA story would be fun or important to get Pappletor he finds out treatment oh gosh I have no idea I have no idea I'll think about that

Big B hey mate with Meatball Molly being on display this weekend they reminded me whatever happened to there and Patty's partnership with Barstool Is it still going? I don't think so. Do you guys see in anything? It definitely is not. I would imagine it was a contract that ran out.

When is the Draft King sponsorship coming? Is there a story behind them not jumping onto the team just yet? There is a little bit of a story. I'm still with bed and GM four years now and love working with those guys and let's see let's see what happens the reason is without getting too inside there are already deals in place here with gambling and the door wasn't as wide open as it was but it wasn't because draft Kings wasn't happy or anything like that so I suspect within the next few months you'll get some clarity on that how about that he also

says, additionally, I vote against reducing the number of interviews. I like the banter, but don't feel the interview quality and quantity should suffer. I feel like we're at a pretty good spot now, my friends. Chris, hey, Aaron, team, did you watch Mondo Du Plantis' latest record-breaking pole vault? This guy's incredible.

You know this guy, from the Olympics, the Swedish guy, who I think goes to LSU? He was unbelievable in Paris. The guy defies gravity. I mean, it's a guy who takes a pole and he goes, oh, it's nuts. I did it. actually see it. I know the World Athletic Championships are happening right now.

Is that the sound it actually makes? More generally, since last year's Olympics gig, are there any sports you keep tabs on or athletes you watch out for having spent so much time? Some of the Canadian guys, for sure, because I actually got to meet some of them. The track and field guys,

the swimmers, I've actually kept in touch with some of them, which has been pretty cool. And I love when their stuff pops up on my social media, because there's one dude who's a race walker, and it's so completely different than the MMA stuff. There's another platform diver. Again, so completely different.

So it's nice. Any break dancers? There was one guy. The Wizard, Phil. Phil, the Wizard, but not too much. I had to look this up because I wanted to confirm it was the same guy. But apparently, and it was, I remember reading this story a few years ago, this guy that you're talking about, Mando, he breaks his own record by one centimeter

each time so that he can break it again the next time and he's done it now 14 times so he does it so that he gets the bonus for setting the world record each time that he does it wasn't he go to LSU? Yeah he said that he said that oh fuck is he's he's great

he's great he's still the show of Harry how crazy is that that he's just like so finely calibrated so fine tune that he's like I'm going to break this record then I'm going to break it each time and has now done that 14 times He's unbelievable. And he's a good-looking dude. As the kids say,

someone told me to stop saying that. He has aura. This individual named Jordan Souser says, Ariel, when is Josh Allen coming on your show? Do you think he knows how many listeners you've converted into Bill's fans? I don't know. I don't know the answer to both of those questions.

But, golly, do I love Josh? Big Thursday, night game tomorrow. I would love to have Josh on the program, obviously. I will say I threw out the line. I love the chase. I love the, you know, the Hail Mary, and I threw it out. I threw it out over the off season. And, you know, he was getting married and everything like that. But honestly, I would love to have him on. I would just love to shake his hand. I'd just love to thank the guy. I really do appreciate what he's given up. Us, Bill's fans?

This is my favorite one right here with the jacket. Oh, bro, I'm just trying to show some love. The main thing is I was talking to my son, Oliver, and he's like, this is the best. My friends say, before I get to that, Josh, if you're listening, I'd love to have you on. Even for five minutes. I actually saw him on some other shows, and I was like, how do we get this guy on? We love the guy. And we're not going to even ask.

I just want to be like, remember that time? threw a 98-yard pass to Gabe Davis against the Steelers, and I was sitting in the third row my first time at High Mark Stadium. That was awesome. I just want to be Chris Farley talking to Paul McCartney. I don't want to be a journalist talking to him. I just want a fan boy. Is that okay?

Anyway, I was talking to my son, and he's like, oh, my friends say that I just like the bandwagon. You know, I'm a bandwagoner. I just like the good teams. About him or you? No, no, about him. Oh, that's fucked up. And I love that. And I was like, imagine someone telling a Knicks and Bills fan

15 years ago that you just like the good teams. Like they were so far away from that. And so I'm very thankful that my kids have now grown up where the two teams that I chose for them because let's be honest, they had no choice. I lost them with Man City, but I was, you know, we weren't quite as into it back then. So I couldn't, it wasn't ingrained.

It had to be the, it had to be the Knicks. It had to be the bills. Of course, I wasn't, he's an appreciation for the Expos, no doubt about it, but he's a Blue Jays fan. And a Syracuse fan as well. We want to go see Keon Anthony. There's been some talk of that, this upcoming season, and a Canadians fan. So there's no like, it's like Rudy. In this household, we root from one team and one team only.

And of course, I'm talking about different sports, but those are our teams. People like to make the joke that I have like so many teams. Yeah, there's different sports, and I like different sports. and so there are different teams in different sports. But let's be clear. I don't have like an AFC and NFC team. I don't have an Eastern Conference team and a Western conference team.

I got one team per sport. And the funniest thing is some of the crazy European fans will say that I'm a flip-flopper because of the soccer stuff without realizing that the Lester and Everton thing were just like gags on the show. They were never real and they know that.

Or at least they should know that. Now it's four, it's the netherton. Nick's Bills. It's Nick's Bills. Those are the top two. If you want to know, Nick's Bills. Then it's... Sounds like six. Forrest, Canadians.

Syracuse, basketball, Syracuse, football. Montreal in soccer. Montreal FC in MLS. I do like the Red Bulls as well. And then when it comes to football, as in international soccer. Of course, we love Canada. We love Canada basketball. And that's kind of the gamut. I do

support Israel basketball, Israel football as well. They've had a good run. And I think that's the gamut right there. The Canadians, you know what? I was actually thinking of that yesterday. I was like, holy shit it's pretty who would have thought like forest might be the worst team now after last season being maybe the best team well not the

best but you know they seem to have it all figured out now they're in shambles it seems like but yes it does feel like a golden age and that leads me to the point of being happy that you know it's way worse when you're telling your kids to support a team that's two and 15 you know

anyway thank you very much everyone for their questions I love you all do we have any super chats you know it Ariel we have mutual friends and John Pollock and White Ting

Wonderful guys Waiting Waiting All right Couldn't wait till the end To correct me I know you all used to travel For UFC cards

Any road stories with them Love John Love Way They were actually on Very very early episodes of the MMA hour Way back in the day Like AOL days

and you know when I've when I've been in Toronto gone out to lunch with them when John was working for the Fight Network I remember us doing a sort of like long form interview do I have war you know what I recall I'm almost 100% certain that this happened yes it did happen I recall going a good memory is going to an indie wrestling show

the night before UFC 203 in Cleveland Shanea Bazel was on the card Matt Riddle was on the card Ronna Rousey made an appearance a surprise appearance that was the night before CM Punk's debut in the UFC and that was a lot of fun

Mark Remundi was with us pretty sure Esther and Casey and John and Way I don't get to go to a lot of indie shows so I really enjoyed that what else Frankie? What else? Lastly, Mike Dee says my prediction

not only will you and Dana mend fences before it's all over Ariel Hawani will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as a journalist, boys in the back thoughts? Okay, well, I don't know. Honestly, I feel like the latter is actually even crazier than the former. I'll tell you what, I'd love to see Tom Derbacy in the UFC Hall of Fame,

and I think that that's a pretty easy one to get done. That would be phenomenal, and I hate that that would happen after his passing, and I still can't believe I even say that. But anyway, I saw some people saying that like, oh man, you just ruined any chance of it happening by saying he was sarcastic. Come on, guys. Really? Like, really you guys think that he wasn't being sarcastic? That doesn't change my sentiment. Again, I appreciate the fact that he didn't call me X, Y, and Z. And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. And, you know, I'm not trying to beg or to do anything like that because I don't think, by the way, when I say if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I mean about reading the situation. I don't think I did anything wrong. I don't think that whatever he thinks I did, the punishment fit the crime.

And I'm not talking about the banning stuff. I'm just talking about all the stuff that we went through in the subsequent years. I think a lot of it actually is a big misunderstanding. Like I wish that there was a world if I could go back in time, especially at the end of the Fox deal where it's like, hey, let's talk this out.

This didn't work. Why didn't it work? And how could it work in the future? Because I've told stories many times. There was a period where I was breaking news and the UFC PR team was giving me so much trouble, so much trouble. And I told him this.

Because I was hired as the insider for Fox. They said they wanted me to be the J. Glazer of UFC tonight. Well, how could I be an insider and get trouble from the one organization that I'm supposed to be the insider for? It's not like I'm covering 32 teams. The one team is trying to block me. And he said, do your thing, man. Your job will make people upset.

I'll never forget it. He was getting his kids ready for school. He's like, I'm the president of the company, and I'm telling you, I have no problem with it. It's the truth. And it made me feel better. And so I was like, all right. And I never think that I broke that.

Again, you'll see people now say, Ariel was told in confidence that never happened on my life, on my kids' life. Never, ever, ever happened. I didn't get it from Fox. I didn't get it from any sort of conference call. I got it from people in the business, in and around, not working for the UFC, nothing even remotely close to that. The same way you get any fight story. Managers, sisters, brothers, wives, friends, coaches, teammates, sources. So I don't know. I'm not trying to be like Mr. Negative, but it's just my, you know,

it's just my read of that situation as I drop my pencil. What else, Frankie? By the way, if it's a genuine sentiment, why would being, saying like, you know, maybe he was being sarcastic, change that. If it's a genuine sentiment,

it's a genuine sentiment. Nothing would be affected by that. It doesn't make much sense. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of people who, you know, know how to find me. And so if it was Jen... And then maybe it was an off-the-cup thing. I think that interview was from last week because they were talking about the Charlie Kirk tragedy. So, who knows?

Look, again, one more time, I'm not saying, F you laughing at it. It was just when I saw it, I was like, I think everyone or a lot of people are reading this wrong. I asked other people if they agreed. they said yes and meaning like in my life um but my takeaway was i i appreciated not being called a you know a lying sack of shit no one likes to hear that what else frankie what that's it my man all right um just looking to see if we missed anything um i'm seeing a litany of uh yeah we'll we'll skip that one I'm seeing a litany of tweets regarding Tom. I see a nice tweet from DeZone as well.

And so now we go back to reality. When I turn this off and say goodbye, you go back to thinking about that stuff. But the show did provide a nice little escape, and I do appreciate that. I do appreciate that. And I enjoyed today's guests, and I enjoyed being able to think about,

other things. We, we, we talked about a lot of heavy things on the show this week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And, um, and not, you know, not a great time. And, uh, you know, let's all just appreciate life. Let's appreciate each other. Let's try to be the best and kindest and nicest human beings that we can be. And, um, I don't know. I was thinking about this earlier. I don't know if there is an afterlife. I really don't. I'm a religious person. I believe in God. I don't know how to feel about the afterlife. You know, like last week I was, you know, people saying Charlie's with Jesus. Charlie's with God. I don't know. We, none of us know. I do sometimes wonder when you hear about people flatlining, how come they don't say like, oh, I saw some stuff and then I came back.

When they, when they said they were dead, how come they don't say that? That's like the closest we can never find out. I don't know. The point is, the way I try to live my life is, you only get one shot. And you try to be the best person you could be, and you try to appreciate life and be grateful for the little things, not get too high, not get too down. And I hate that these are being used as reminders, but this is how things go. And hopefully this could be a reminder that it is so like we talk all the time what are we going to do next month what are we going to do next week this can end in five minutes in an hour so I hope you all appreciate your blessings I hope you all are in good places and if you're not better days are coming ahead and I hope that we yeah we

don't have to deal with situations like we had to deal with over the last couple days as far as people we look up to and people of course that we are that we are friends with makes it even tougher. On that note, we say goodbye. Check out the book if you can. Boxing. Be 100 greatest fighters. Oh, thank you for that. On Air Jordan telling me that the link is in the chat. Please, check it out. Oh man, this is great stuff. I perused it a little bit. Beautiful. well like look at these pictures unbelievable I mean just like I don't even know what to make of the

fact that Tom the quintessential writer leaves with this gift for all of us just won an award last year for boxing excellence I see Andre Ward Pernel Whitaker Usick Tyson Tyson Gene Tunney, Trinidad, Tony, Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano, Clarissa Shields, Michael Spinks, Joe Lewis, Ray Mancini, Pretty Boy Floyd, Archie Moore, Eric Morales, Shane Mosley, Mani Paciow, Sugar Ray Robinson, Vladimir Klitschko, Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Van der Hewleyfield, God, God, bless Tom Derbasi. God bless his family. My heart goes out to them. And thank you, Tom. Thank you for everything. Thank you. Thank you for being such a great person and such a great mentor to so many of us. You will never be forgotten. Your kindness, your spirit will never be forgotten. And like I said, your memory will be a blessing. And I hope you realize how much

you meant to all of us. Thank you so much to our guests. Thanks to the crew back on Thursday. Same time, place to say peace. I'm here.