The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: R-Truth Talks 'WWE: Unreal S2,' Country Album, Contract Controversy, John Cena’s Retiring +More

Episode Date: January 21, 2026

Today on The Breakfast Club, R-Truth Talks 'WWE: Unreal S2,' Country Album, Contract Controversy, John Cena’s Retiring. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. You're all finished or y'all's done? Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne de Guy. We are the Breakfast Club.

Lonel of Roses here as well. We got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed. We're on from the WWE. Ladies gentlemen, Our Truth. Welcome. I appreciate it, man. How are you feeling, brother?

Man, I'm feeling fantastic. Amazing. I'm me here with the, you know what I'm saying? You're my folks, man. I'm glad to see you, brother. You can fight for real. Hell yeah. Like some wrestlers.

Some wrestlers just have the aesthetic, but you don't think they could probably do something in real life, they just big. You look like you can scrap. I had a strap. I'm darned skinning, you know what I'm saying? You got nothing to do with your complexion. But we grew up having to fight.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like I grew up having a fight, so yeah, I've been fighting since I was younger, but trained as well too. Is that what got you in the actually want to be a professional wrestler? Nah, man, what got me into it was a guy named Jack Croc and I met him in the halfway hour.

Okay. And I've always wanted to be this big rap star, you know what I'm saying? I wanted to be the next MC Hammer. But in the street... You're from the Bay Area? Not from North Carolina. Charlotte.

Okay. So, uh, don't know what I'm saying? So, um, bro, this is like a dream. Like, check it out. Meeting a guy named Jack Crocker and a Halfwood house. Stelling them cookies on the street, you know what I'm saying? Do my little thing, Hudson for my dancers. I had dance groups.

I don't open up for Tracy Spencer, Chub, Rock, Quarming back in the days. You can dance. I've been going to Jack the Rapper. You know what I'm saying? I still dance. Still, damn. I still do my thing. That's right.

Okay. So, you're 60s, 70s, maybe. Born in 70s or 60s? I'm born in 70s. 72. You give the backup dance and aesthetic. You give the answer to that era. You got six and 70 babies.

Bray, I got five kids. How many babies are got? I'm in the babies, yeah. But yeah, so I met Jack Crockett in a halfway house, you know what I'm saying? And this was like, I know how it feels to be somewhere. Like I was 25, dog, and I didn't know what I want to do with my life. They didn't want to play football anymore, too many injuries, but I wanted to live this rap dream. Met Jack Crockett, bro.

But somebody to believe in me in a halfway house. He said, when you get out, I'm gonna get your job. I thought the motherfucker. You can go. You're good. You're good. Oh, you can come from this motherfucker? Oh, shit. So I thought he wanted me to cut his grass or something, right?

But that was the first time I was introduced to professional wrestling. Took me to three WCW shows in Atlanta. And, bro, I was sitting there. He was a cameraman at this time. He said, but I never gave back before. God told me to give back to you. So I'm like, okay, cool. So I'm sitting there watching Rick Fleb music hit.

First time at a wrestling show, you know what I'm saying? Man, Rick Flutter came down, Jack Crocker said, see, that could be you. How you was rapping and dancing, telling jokes in jail and you, either you could be doing that. He said, and you could do the fighting, the splits you was doing.

He said you'll be able to have an audience. You'd be able to invest in your own stuff and won't have to ask nobody else for nothing. Mm-hmm. There wasn't too many black wrestlers back then too, especially it was like a junkyard dog. J-Y-D, though. That was WWF for WCW.

Ron Simmons. Ron Simmons. There you go. Book of T, Stephen Wright. Book of T. Oh, Harlem Heat. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Ernest Miller?

When he told you that, did you believe that at the time? No. No? I didn't, yes. I was up. And see, again, this is life. We just grow and mature as we go, man. Like, you never stop fucking, I'm sorry.

You never stop. Fuck, I can cuss on this bitch. You never stop learning, right? Yeah. And I turned him down for two years. Wow. And I actually went back out in the streets again. But I said, you know what?

I remember I told my mom one time. I'm going to sell drugs. till they stop making it. She's like, nah, blah. You told them to my mother? I told them to stop making them. Jesus, that was jabbed. I never wanted to stop selling them.

That's who I needed. What is your mom said? It was never going to stop making drugs. She said, you'll stop. That's all she said, you'll stop. But I grew up with my uncle, doing with my family. Like, I thought what was the thing to do to get where you wanted to be at.

You know, you know how it is, though. So it's like, I remember going back and forth to jail, back to where I was like, you know, I ain't want to them. You know what I'm saying? They ain't got to stop making it, but I ain't, you know what I'm saying? He said, I'm going to crime it out. I was lost.

I was stuck in a not knowing what you want to do with your life, the rest of your life. You gave up scholarship to Georgia Tech, Clemson, Syracuse for football. You done, what are you going to do? What are you going to do, man? So it was like, I would start. I didn't know what I want to do with my life, man. You show you not the rap of baby from another multiverse? No.

It's the baby from another universe. Hey, though, but yes, I turned him down for two years. And it was that last time I went to jail, and that's when I met Crockett. And it was like, how the Bible say, a faith of a mustard seed or the ramming in the bush, all those little things made sense to me, man, because it was like, I was sick and tired to being sick and tired. Yeah. And I was like, damn, I'd do something different, man. I do something.

Crocket. Crocket told me he'd give me a job. It wasn't cutting grass. So I called Crockett up. He came and picked me up, took me back to the same restaurant again. He said, this won't cost you enough but time of dedication. I'm going to pay for everything. Wow.

So sometimes the universe got to give us these. tools, resources, but we just got to apply them, right? What to do with him? Man, it's crazy how, like, he took me to one school and people's like, you know how name association helps you out in life. Oh, Crockett brought you in here? Oh, dog, let me show you this. Oh, he brought you up. Let me show you this. Let me show you that. Like, I have so many people showing me from headlock,

take over to arm drags to wrist, you know, so top lobs. So it's like, I just graduated. Mani Fernandez, Raging Bull. He finished training me. He said, I'm going to teach you how to take care of yourself in the ring and outside the ring. Psychologically, wrestling, being involved so much stuff just like I'm sure with your job it involves a lot yeah mentally people don't even know about it right so um met uh manifin and they've got trained ended up in nbba wild side uh connea in georgia in georgia in georgia in georgia in georgia uh bill barrens rick michael said oh man you belong on tv dog let me um make a day

me his dad was the camera guys there think about now i'm doing this i ain't in the streets no more i'm making five dollars seven dollars sometimes we got paid a hot dog Damn. That was like on the independence. I did independence for four years. Before NWA, WCW. Before I got on TV, y'all. Before any of that, I did independent.

And that would just, you taste the blood. If you want to do this, you're going to do it. Like going inside and nobody there. You know what I'm saying? Like five, six people. You know what I had to build to that. But I was doing something different. I went a different route to get where I wanted to get to.

You were staying out the street, too. That's what important thing. Man. Yeah. My mom was proud of me, man. My family was proud. I was proud and it just started like blossoming and growing and growing and growing man to where Rick Michael's dad said I'm gonna make a tape for you made a tape for me

this is years ago now you know what I'm 503 I turned 54 yesterday so I appreciate that I wish you all said that but y'all didn't say it so Rick Michael's dad said I'm gonna make you a tape just send it in made me a tape sent it in I got a call and I was flying up to Stanford to WWF back then just off just off for that within two weeks. You know what I'm saying? And it just started transpired. I became the first black NWA champion.

And that title was around for 53 years. I used to love that belt, man. Did you, though? Yeah, because I mean, it just was the big gold joint, but it was always synonymous with Rick Flair to me. It never even looked right on nobody else. Yeah. The nature boy.

One other person that it looked right on was Goldberg, but it was WCW by then. Yes, yes. So, man, I, and never, again, you never, stop learning, I didn't realize how prestigious that title was to be the first black NWA champion, like how younger blacks look at me or like, oh, I can do that. Now I can, you know what I am. So just living, live, living into where now I've excelled into like, I think I'm more popular than I've ever been in my career. Right now? Right now. Right now. And in the rest of the

business, that's kind of hard. What we call a pop, when you come out, when the lights hitting, they, I still get one of the biggest pops. And it feels so everything I receive, I get reciprocated to me, like a lot of fans tell me, bro, you make me feel, I remember watching you when, I'm telling him, I'm talking I got signed in 98. So that's how long I've been wrestling. Wow.

I've been allowed to continue to do this, still be reinventing myself each and every time. Yeah. With the unreal, the Netflix deal, it allowed me to reinvent myself again. So life will give you these opportunities, these moments. but we just got to grab them. What would you say to people who think the Unreal series is revealing too much?

Yeah, y'all's showing too much now. You think so? Yes. Man, it's about the same as, you know what, you know what I'm saying? You know the rabbit's in the head, don't you? Yeah. Yeah, people know wrestling not real.

We just enjoy it with entertainment. But a lot of people do think wrestling is real. That's the big audience. They need Jesus, envy. Damn. There's a lot of real aspects of wrestling that's around it and weaved into it. A lot of things from the unreal, you can see, is real.

Yeah. A lot of things ain't real. Wrestling is still that, we still give you that illusion. We still, a lot of people believe in these characters. Yes. I just like it for this scripted entertainment that I enjoy. You enjoy it. I got a character,

Our Truth, I got a Ron Killen's character, I got a Kickwood character, I got a Ron Sina character. John Sina is my older brother. You know what I'm saying? You know damn well, Jess, come on. Of course, I got you. But check it out though, so it's like, I think a lot people get attached to the character

and see themselves living that life. Same as a movie, right? Yeah. So the people that do say that it reveals too much, what positive has come out of revealing those things that people normally don't reveal? There's a lot of positive to come out of it. You get to get a deep inside look at how the machine works.

You know what I'm saying? A lot of us get to see the afterlife of what is created and the glorification of it's net. We don't get to see the sweat, blood, and tears and the drama, the dynamic, the diabolical shit that goes on. You never get to see all of that. Or how difficult it is.

Yeah. And you still have to execute and go do that. I don't care how you feel or how you look at it. You still got to participate if you're going to be in this game. Because you can write a plan up and you can write something up. But it doesn't necessarily all have to follow by plan because y'all jumping from the air, y'all throwing people left and right. I mean, it's ridiculous.

That's why they create that word called audibles, right? We have to, man. I'm sure with y'all, y'all get slid something on the spot. got to be able to like boom a lot of times we get told hey y'all got an extra four minutes y'all got an extra five minutes and we ain't got that designed in that match like oh so you got to like be able to like improv yeah right on the spot have other people on the inside reach out to you like yo we happy that you kind of like pulling the veil back a little bit a lot of people a lot of people like oh hit me up like oh I didn't know it was like that oh I didn't know you know what's like I think it's um I mean like actual like

fighters fighters yeah like people on the inside that that would typically want you to kind of keep some of that stuff to the chest because, you know, what you don't know is how you make your business. Like have they been like, okay, we're glad that you're kind of putting some of this out there for people to see? I kind of ain't even like, I don't know. They have, they have, they haven't, like, said it like you said it. Okay.

I mean, I kind of like, I kind of, you know what the fuck I want to do, kind of, you know what I, I have no problem with transparency. That's why I just told y'all I used to be in the streets. That why I told y'all this next. So it's like, it's what we do with that transparency. It's what is how I, you know all about me. Now watch how I move. Watch my motion.

Watch how I make this shit pop. Making shit happen. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, I think it's an appreciation and a respect in seeing that, knowing that, and watching it execute. It's not really good comedic timing too. Like, did that come natural or was it learned over time? Natural.

Okay. Natural, dog. I can tell you just, yeah. Yeah. Being dark skin. You know what I'm saying? And being a superpower now. It's a superpower.

Yeah. If you let it be. We all got super power. So when they came at you with the jokes, you had to freaking... I was ready for that ass. Yes, right. Yes, sir. I was ready for that ass.

You know what I'm saying? I dropped them in there. That's how you was when you was younger too. Round the way. Yup. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I didn't do that.

Because you dressed in all black. No, man. You're dressed in all black, man. He said, I ain't do that. He's a pause. You're dressed in all black. That's what you were saying. No, no, no, like they were saying,

like, you can stand on your head and your hair still don't touch the ground. Damn. You can stand on your head and your head and your hair still won't touch the ground. That's how bald you are. You got on the head. Yeah. You got no neck.

You got to lean back to swallow. You don't know what I'm saying? Tight shit. Keep going, keep going. One more, one more. She likes those on him. So I wanted to know, you know, you have a recognizable face now, right? You're on wrestling.

Has anybody that you stuck up ever came back to you? Like, bro, you know, in 2000, that was me that you stuck up. Now you robbed everybody in the dog, nobody's on. No. See, the dog skin and shit. Show the man, the dog's getting shit. That was a good one. But when I said it, he was like,

oh, no, you ain't had to fight because of that. You know what I'm saying? The almost light skin, brother. You know what I'm saying? Y'all always gave it to us, dog. But, no, man. God bless and never had that. And I used to keep for cutting my face up, too.

Oh, okay. He said, I covered my face up. Yeah, I was smart. Yeah, I wasn't dumb. Yeah, I was completely dumb. You know, I was done for not taking advantage of the opportunities I had to do and exploit my talent in the right way.

What's the worst thing that ever happened to you in the ring? Like that wasn't planned that she was like, shit. The worst thing that ever happened to me, got all these kicked out. No. Damn. Yeah. It's real.

Yeah, that kicked out. Who was it? Cesaro. Wow. Ah, yeah. Y'all talking about this shit ain't real. Yeah, yeah. I mean, no, people get really hurt.

Yeah, yeah. So what happened in that instance? And what's the conversation after? Like, you kick my mouth out. No, that's my dog, man. It was cool. Wow. Shit happens, you know what I'm saying?

Like, it's not always going to go the way you wanted to go. You know what I'm saying? Like, all the both things happen, you know what I'm saying? Like, can you continue? I can keep going, keep going, keep going. I kind of like, I think when he kicked him, it was too cold on the side, so I just pushed him back down. Damn.

Yeah. But you got, you think you're adrenaline going. Oh, my God. We were in the midst of, you know what I'm saying? Like the hype of stuff. Like, you were when you were walking out, you were like, you know, they get that pop by my face, that shit. Yeah.

Right, right. But during you asked you, yo, can you keep going? And you're like, yeah? Yeah, you're good. You good? Yeah, I'm good. I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry.

I don't worry, let's keep going. So I won't forget what we got. You know what I'm saying? How much longer did you have to keep going after that? I think we had maybe like four minutes left. Was it on TV? Was this a televised? Oh, yeah, it was live.

Wow. Jesus. Wow. Wow. And so I'm, I just probably a dumb question, but they paid for that, right? They pay for you. Yes, yes. Oh, they take care of us good.

Okay. Yeah, they take care of us. All right. good because this is still a dangerous game you playing with your life like you know what I mean I don't been injured but knocking wood I've lived and had a great career man like yeah neck injuries both shoulders ribs chest term hip patelot tendon quad and what is the rehabilitation I mean the recovery like like what is what is the recovery like what do you do to like get your ass off that couch yeah yeah get your ass in rehabilitation rehab rehab work

We have works. Yeah, and it just, I never stopped working out since high school. Because you don't walk like you saw, you don't walk like any of this happened. You walked in the head, like you was ready to fight them too. I still stretch. I can still do a jump up and split right there. Like I don't mess around with my body, health, my mobility, being able to move that while. Like, you know what I'm saying, 54, I could still do back flips, all that shit.

You know what I'm saying? So it's, yeah, you got to stay tight with it, right? There's only one person that ever thought could die in the ring. And that was goddamn cactus jacket. Jack, Mick Foley. That's my dog. I love Mick, man. He used to put his life on the line. He did, right? Man. He did. But that was a dedication to the business, man.

And that was, that was his lane. You know what I'm saying? You got your lane running. Me, I got my lane. And it's there's never be another R. True. There's never be another wrong killings. At all. You know what I mean? There's never been another Shalaman to God. There'll be another DJ Ever. There'll be another Jets. Nope. We got our lanes and we got damn

we're driving that bitch, right? Yeah. You know, how have you have you been able to balance the life of a a WWE superstar, you know, as it pertains to, you know, with being a husband and a father, too. How's that balance with that? You have to do it. You have to balance it. You have to have willing participants, loving participants, with my music career.

You know what I'm saying? So it's like trying to balance all of it is just doing what needs to be done. When I go home, I put that hat on. I'm a dad. I'm a husband. I'm a father. I still love, my daughter is 11. She still sleep with me, my wife in the bed.

I love that. Love it too. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, I love taking my daughters to the bus stop and waiting at the bus stop with them. Best feeling ever. Bro, man, come on. Going to their schools, man, and like eating lunch with them.

And I like that shit. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, I think we make time. We don't have so much time in the day, but we make time for what we got time for. Yeah. Or what we want to put time in, you know what I'm saying? So you had to balance it, yes.

That's amazing. When I get injured, when I got injured, that's how I was able to do. My first country out, I just dropped. The white owl. The white owl? Like the blood? Not a white owl.

The white owl. I don't do it. What do you say? The white what? The white owl. Yeah, but you're trying to like the white owl. Yeah, yeah. He's talking about it.

Oh, yeah, no. He said, I don't smoke. He don't know what you're talking about. He don't smoke. He don't do none of that. Oh, no, my. Okay, never mind. He don't smoke white owls.

You like read. You like read for paper. I do, uh, Hemp organic If I A friend of mine do I don't do My friend

Yeah There we go He like those Swishers gold And silver And silver And Do you

The White name White Al The White Al The White Al Um Have you heard It yet You said the album

Oh White Album Album That was That was That was So you saw So you saw

704 Man I don't I don't know I can't I can't I can't I thought

I thought you said White Owl too Okay Because I was a previous White Owl Smoker So that's

I thought I heard. Jazz just called me country. Just a little bit. I love it though. So, yeah, why is it called the white album? Have you heard it yet? No. Okay.

A friend of mine, Alexander King, was like, oh, man, you should do a country song. It's a country song. He said, country song. He said, yeah, bro, you country as hell. You country as hell. Grew up in Georgia. You lived in Tennessee. Like, you're low-hanging fruit, your audience, you know what I'm saying?

The wrestling world, like. You want to know what my evenings actually look like? Homework questions. Someone needs a permission slip signed. The dog's begging for a walk, someone's yelling for a snack. And somewhere in the middle of all that, I'm supposed to figure out dinner? That's why Hello Fresh has been a lifesaver. Fresh ingredients show up at my door, locally sourced when possible,

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Hellofresh. Canada's number one meal kit delivery service. Do one country song and thank me later. So I told my producer J. Track. hey man, Allison, we should do a country song. He's like, let's do a country album. I'm like, hmm. I said, so no hip hop.

He said, nah. I said, well, that shit should be called the White album. And we just laughed at it. And it became so. I just did that on the radar, man. Like what, maybe. Gabe, so let's look at Gabe. Yeah, yeah, and it's doing good.

Made billboard charts. Wow. It's doing good, man. That's what's that. Yeah, yeah. You got to check it out. Ron Killings the Whiteout, man. And I got a tour coming up too.

Oh, you're going on tour to a country? You're taking the white album on the tour? Yes. Y'all got to come pull up. Okay. Y'all got to come pull up. All right. For real, nah.

Just for the, are you stopping in the white parts of the city? What is it? Who are you looking at? Why now I'm going in all parts of the city? All part. Because it's universal. You know what I'm a universal dude. You know what I like everybody.

And shout out to Nick Kahn, man. Again, with the Netflix and me re-signed the deal, man. There's a lot of things that came out. them helped me with my music. Amazing. You know what I'm saying? I'm able to like, and they're helping me promote my music to get it out there. You know what I'm saying?

So it's just you don't get to get the wrestling side of Ron Killings or Truth. You get to get the whole aspect, the whole transparency, the music, everything, the White House. Do you have a relationship with Rick Flatt being that, you know, he's in 1740? Yeah, me, Flare, cool. Yeah. Okay, okay. Me, Flair, Charlotte. Ashley, yeah, we all cool, man.

Was that one of your inspiration growing up? Yes, man. Definitely one of my inspiration, man. And just anybody that was doing it, it was like an inspiration to me, you know what I'm saying? Especially if you're in my field, my lane, the same way I'm trying to go, you know what I'm saying? Like it was just, it was a big inspirational part of it.

Were you into wrestling as a kid? No. So when your man told you when you got out of jail to try, that was your first real view of it. I thought he wanted me to cut his grass, dog. You know what I'm saying? But yeah. And just sitting there, I was a manager first.

And this one, Booker T and Stevie had just started, he had wanted me to manage them. WCW was still in there. And I was like, nah, man, I don't want to wrestle, man. I'm thinking like, you're gonna say, like, burn the hood, you know how they did. And nobody was like, bro, you wrestling, man? Come on, isn't that.

Not knowing they're a closet wrestling fans. Because what's- Where we're from, I'm from South Carolina. It wasn't no closet. Everybody used to love wrestling growing up, man. A and W, TNT, T&T, see, now you're saying to Charlemagne, Charlemagne because it's true now okay okay okay I didn't know nitro what okay I was in the

streets then I didn't know I wasn't watching you used to love wrestling man for real okay okay what did you think about wrestling when he said it to you like what was your what was your mind state of like wrestling in just the genre in general it was new to me it was like um man you want me to wrestle like it's I never done it before you know we with something new it's we're allergic to that shit anything new or changed we get a We get a quick reasons on why we shouldn't matter, but now, I have an adapting personality. So I just, at that time, again, going back to that, you know what I'm saying, the faith of mustard seed and sick and tired of being sick and tired. Man, I was ready to do anything.

Yeah. Anything. I was like, yeah, I'll go do it, man. I'll try it. He said, it won't cost you never time of dedication. And again, all the people that was willing to help me and teach me and just the way it just moved. And I started believing in trust the process. There are so many things you can gather along the way with the process and use that shit when you get to certain levels.

There's levels of the shit for real, right? When you got released a couple of years ago, what was your immediate reaction, emotionally and mental? Oh, man. Where I was when I told you, I was that 25-year-old kid not knowing what he wanted to do in life. Wow. Not knowing what move to make. Not knowing which steps. Is there a wrong step?

Is there a right step like this? I was just in a tunnel. That's mentally and emotionally. Because when I found out, I had just dropped my daughter off at dads and my son was behind me. I was in the garage smoking, you know what I'm saying? I mean, sweeping. Yeah.

Yeah. So it was like, damn. I don't know how, if anybody knows what it feels like to get fire or get like, you know what I'm saying? I mean, five, four times from radio. What I said it wasn't fire. So you don't have a feel to get that call, right? Yeah.

They called you too, right? No. Damn. Wait, how did you find out? He just came in there. We got to interview you. After your last show, they'll call you in the office and be like, hey, moving in another direction. Okay, that's how it was in my last shop.

Okay. Wow. Yeah. Wow. You didn't get to say goodbye? No. Hell, no. Okay.

That's crazy. So. But AAA said you didn't really get fined. I was with the X at. Okay. Let me ask you this then. I got the call. Right. If I got my agent working on this end with their agent, I'm just, I put to stay out of that, right? Let them handle that time.

I get a call from this side saying, we're not going to renew your contract or however it was you're not going to do. So do I come to work? It's Sunday. Next Sunday with my contract with the end, right? So do I come to work? No, don't come to work. Oh, okay. Are done now? Yes. There was no flight, no calendar. What do you call that? Sounds like a fire, but...

I mean, but it's all... I don't know if it's all the same, or if it's different. If it ain't. I mean, I guess I'm... That's what it felt like. That would have felt like. Because he said that you were technically still...

You were never not under contract with them. He also said that. And he said, he said he never intended to fire you or push you out. The hope was that by allowing the deal to expire without immediate renewal, it would prompt you to reopen dialogue? That's why I said in the top, my agent and their people was talking,

and I was staying out of that. But I got called from this person that said, boom. So I wasn't even in the dialogue situation with the dialogue conversation. You know what I'm saying? This is my first time even having an agent handling my business, you know what I'm saying? I've always, for me telling you from Georgia

to NWA outside of this now, I've always done my own business. This is my first time having to where I stayed out of dialogue. So that's where I took it. It felt like a fire into me. And that's when I paused, took that moment. I couldn't really, I couldn't figure out how I felt. Did it feel sudden to you or was it something you sensed might have?

No, it was sudden. It was a negotiation. So I thought. So I was told it was a negotiation. So it was like, never for once that I feel bad. bitter, jaded, or anger. I was just at loss for feelings, at loss for words, at loss for emotion. Wow.

And I felt like out of the generations that I've, there's people that like four or five years old to know who I am. Yeah. There's people that's 90 to know who I am. So I've been wrestling for decades. You know what I'm saying? Like, damn, I owe them a thank you. Wow.

I was on a ride when it was WWF to WWW. Like I've been doing things with WDB for years since the 98th. I've been doing things with them. Overseas, in the country, everything. I owe them a thanks for the ride. Wow. Do you feel like along the way, like somehow the conversation or the dialogue that you were out of was like misconstrued? Like do you feel like maybe an agent that got it wrong or maybe it was something that wasn't told to you?

They said it was about money that y'all couldn't come close in numbers. That's the triple H that. I don't know what it was all about. I'm just saying, and that's a good thing about unreal. You know what I'm saying? Like, nobody really knows what's what. The only thing we're doing is just,

he said this, he said that, he said it like, like, again, I was letting this hounder this. I was letting that cook over there on the stove. And this right here started boiling and spilled out, you know what I'm saying? And I got burnt. So it was just like,

my main thing, my first thing to do was, to show gratitude and appreciation to the longevity I've had. Like I told you, 54 and I still, Nick, I still move like I'm goddamn 20. Like I make a fact to do that. For the fact that.

They say don't be bitter that it's over. Be happy that it happened. That's a blessing. Like I just told you, because of that man, so many things have evolved out of that. Over a hundred million people on all social media, on social media, like responded to that.

So that was a testament to not only who I am, what I've done, what I've dedicated my life to, what the fans have invested themselves in me, the generational of families that I have inspired, that I have put my life on the line for, that I have missed anniversaries, birthday parties, graduations.

They spoke. and that was the power in power to me that was the power of people to me and that's why I'm here now your support yeah you know what I'm saying and that's what allowed shit man that's I still that's the best thing that ever happened

because again I'm more popular than I've been in my career and I've been doing this for like 27 years so when you look back on it now how do you view that release you look at it as an ending a reset or just something else total sending to a new beginning.

That ass on my chest fucking lit up. Like, sometimes we forget who we are. That's the word. You know what I'm saying? And we get reminded. You know what I'm saying? What that said? Did it change how you define your identity beyond being our truth in the WWE?

Bingo. My nigger. My nigger. And it's being able to leave something back, leave something with the WWB. This is my last contract. But it's just like, you know, how you on that flight? And like get ready for dissent, but the top of the wheels ain't come down yet. This is mine.

You know what I'm saying? So it's like, man, it's the ending to a new beginning. You know what I'm saying? Like, now I get to get y'all this real shit. You know what I'm saying? In the sense, but we're going to have fun while you get it. Yeah. I love it. Do you feel like your contributions to WWE have been fully realized, or you still feel there's more of your story.

Still more to tell. A lot of shit ain't known yet. A lot of stuff got to be told. A lot of stuff got to be shown. I think in this with all due respect. You feel me? It's just with all due respect. Yeah.

I feel like, you know, I don't know when your last year going to be, but John Cena got a send off year. Yep. Right? Yeah, he did. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like they should do the same for you. Yeah.

Yeah, and that would be me saying, damn, definitely, you know what I'm saying? Saying goodbye to everybody. But do you want to say goodbye? Yeah. It's not time yet. the universe spoke. Over 100 million people said that.

It's not time yet. And all we got is time, right? So within this time, we'll know when it's time. You like that shit? How do you hope fans remember your time with WWE after everything you gave to the company? When it's all over? I hope I've inspired somebody.

If it ain't but one person. I hope I've inspired people to like, shit man like from where I came from like if I did it from a fucking pipe dream like you can do it anybody can fucking do it and I want forget anything else the funny shit this and that's nuts and that's not motherfucker you can do it it's just it's just going out there and applying your motherfucking self use your resources use the tools you got um you can't do shit by yourself sometimes you know what I'm saying it's okay to have help it's okay to have people that's that's willing to goddamn prepare you and get a pun to you and be that fucking stability but

believe in your motherfuckin self and if I did it you can do it your story alone is is inspiration to a lot of people for sure just what you sat here and and told me I didn't know half that stuff about you when you took like from your past like you know meeting your guy and halfway house you know you know just you're not even starting to wrestle as You know, you weren't into it when you were younger. You got into it later. I thought it was something that you had been into since a kid. I wish.

Yeah, I just, it's adapting. Always know you don't have to. If that road ain't getting you where you want to go, get off of us. Make a new track. We can make shit happen. We can speak shit into existence. I did. Last if I've spoken, man, like I've, you know how many times I've Googled and watch your shows.

You know how many times I've watched you do your shit. How many time I watch you do you? Like a lot of things we speak and say this is that. That should have come to pass and then we'd be like, damn, is it deja vu? It's not, no. It's universe working in your favor, but we just got to apply ourselves.

Did John senior's retirement make you start looking at your own, you know, wrestling mortality? Like, okay, coming to an end? His retirement gave me ideas. And I know every ride comes to a stop, right? Everything I come to a stop, but it's how it comes to a stop. You know what I'm saying? It's what it does along the way.

way to that stop, you know what I'm saying? For that stop to be remembered and be appreciated and be fucking like, fucking, yeah, right. You know what I'm saying? Get your ass off. You know what I'm saying? But yeah, man, his retirement did a lot for me. And again, shout out to John, man. I learned a lot from him.

He's one of the ones that told me one heel at a time. And I take that cold, you know what I'm saying, to heart with me. He's helped me a lot. Major respect and shout to John. He pushed for you to be like a, main event right yeah he pushed me uh john always at my back on on that aspect of it man um i remember when he came to me and said well you figured it out and like i just do i be me now yeah i've always been me i think that's what makes the art truth my character so relatable to people

yeah i'm i make mistakes yeah i smoke cigarettes yeah he's yeah i'll do like like oh shit i do that too isn't that like man my granddad man i remember being with this in that i get told that's way more time than I get told, oh yeah, you can still go. But you made me feel. The relatability. That's right. Yeah.

They see their self in you. Yes. Yeah. That's amazing. Can you tell us anything about the Royal Rumble coming up on January 13th? Saudi Arabia. Yeah. Yeah, y'all have been to Saudi, right?

No. I haven't. They keep talking to me about going. They said, you got to go, dog. They said they're spending crazy money on this. For real, I was in a lot. in Dubai a few years ago and this lady that was dead. I guess she represented the sports and entertainment

over there. She was like, Chalmah, man, we want to get you to Saudi Arabia. And Anthony Anderson had just came back and he was there. And they were saying this. Hallamia. Damn. That's what's up. You're going to get some of that. You're laughing.

Your numbers are good over there, huh? Right, right. Money good. Tuchet. Yeah, yeah, man. It's good, man. Not only that, man, like, again, I've been with W.T.P. This is, what, 98?

I've been going to Saudi since then. So it's like, Afghanistan, Turkey, Kuwait. I've been, Saudi was one of the first place, man, like to go to Saudi and have them singing my ring music, cheering me. That's crazy.

Yeah. There are Saudi people that, last time I've been to Saudi that buy my music and play my music when they come to the signing. That's like, so a whole different country. And it's our first Royal Rumble we will have there. Wow. First time ever happened to there.

And Saudi crowd, man, it's like, they out. Lit. They be lit, though. They be lit. And it's fun, man. That's what stuff. Well, we appreciate you for joining us. Definitely check out.

Netflix, Unreal Season 2. You could check it out. You can see behind the scenes. You could see, they said there was one scene where, I guess, one of the wrestlers hit somebody that was in the crowd, and they were yelling, hey, he's a crowd. They was like, no, he's part of it, too. Was that part of it? I don't know that one.

That's what I ain't know about. All right. That's what the producer told me. They didn't eager me on that one. Yeah. My name's truth. I tell the truth, brother. Yeah.

Thank you so much. It's our truth. Go get that white album, man. Get that white album. Appreciate it, Shalami. It's our truth. It's the breakfast club. Good morning.

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