The Viall Files - E1070 - Going Deeper with Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

Welcome back to The Viall Files: Going Deeper edition!  This week on The Viall Files, Nick sits down with WWE icons Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch for a no-holds-barred conversation inside and outside the ring. The power couple opens up about their journey from wrestling rivals to real-life partners, balancing marriage and parenthood with life on the road, and what it actually takes to stay at the top of one of the most demanding industries in entertainment. You won't want to miss it! "I started ring shopping in 2 months…" The Viall Files is going LIVE with the new cast of Temptation Island on May 6th! Tickets are on sale NOW! For more information, please visit netflixisajokefest.com.  Want ad free episodes and incredible bonus content?  Start your 7 Day Free Trial of Viall Files + here: https://viallfiles.supportingcast.fm/  HEY! YOU! DO YOU NEED DATING AND RELATIONSHIP ADVICE?  Email [e-mail] and be a part of future Ask Nick episodes! Subscribe to The ENVY Media Newsletter Today: https://www.viallfiles.com/newsletter  Listen to Humble Brag with Cynthia Bailey and Crystal Kung Minkoff now!  Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humble-brag-with-crystal-and-cynthia/id1774298881  Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4NWA8LBk15l2u5tNQqDcOO?si=3b868996930347e8  Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@humblebragpod Listen To Disrespectfully with Katie Maloney and Dayna Kathan now! Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disrespectfully/id1516710301 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0J6DW1KeDX6SpoVEuQpl7z?si=c35995a56b8d4038 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCh8MqSsiGkfJcWhkan0D0w To Order Nick's Book and/or learn more about the show, go to: https://viallfiles.com THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Mint Mobile - This January, quit overspending on wireless with 50% off Unlimited premium wireless. Plans start at $15/month at https://mintmobile.com/viall  To advertise on this podcast please email: [e-mail] or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/theviallfiles   Episode Socials: @viallfiles @nickviall @nnataliejjoy @beckylynchwwe @wwerollins @justinkaphillips @leahgsilberstein @the_mare_bare @izeweaver

Now that the holidays are over, you might be feeling like you've got a big spending hangover. The drinks, the holiday food, the gifts, it all adds up. Luckily, Mint Mobile is here to help you cut back on overspending on wireless this January with 50% off unlimited premium wireless. Mint Mobile's end of year sale is still going on, but only until the end of the month. Cut out big wireless bloated plans and unnecessary monthly charges with 50% off of 3,6 or 12 months of unlimited. All plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Use your own phone and any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with your existing contacts.

Listen, you can't beat the combination of the unbelievable prices and the exceptional service that you get with Mint Mobile. So if you are tired of overspending on wireless, make the switch to Mint Mobile today. You will be so glad you did. You'll get unbelievable coverage and even better prices. This January quit overspending on wireless with 50% off unlimited premium wireless. That's half off. Plan started at $15 a month at mintmobile.com slash V-I-A-L. That's mintmobile.com slash V-I-A-L.

Limiteded time offer, up-front payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for 12 months. Plan required $15 a month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra, initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. devices required availability, speed, and coverage varies. C. Mintmobile.com. Don't forget, VALFiles Plus now offers ad-free episodes for all VALFiles episodes,

including Ask NIC, Reality Recap, and Going Deeper. Plus, if you love Ask Nick, you will absolutely love our AskedNick updates, where you get updates of your favorite calls, our deep dive on all your favorite reality recap TV shows, and our pop culture roundups. We talk about all your favorite pop culture topics that we didn't get to in this week's episode. Plus deep dives on our going deeper guest and so much more. All I have to do is go to Val Fals Plus and you will be lucky you did. Seth, Becky, welcome the show.

So excited to have you guys. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Do you go by Seth or do you go by Colby? Well, who's talking to me? More people in the world know me by Seth Rollins. Colby Lopez is my government name. It's a great name, but I use it for nothing.

Nothing, zero things. I've contemplated like changing, you know, you have like Rebecca Quinn on your Instagram and your socials now. I'm like, maybe I should change. Maybe I should be Colby Lopez, aka Seth Rollins. I don't know. It was really endearing in the Unreal doc, you know, when you were just like, well, can I, is it weird if I call him Kobe? Oh, yeah. So like when you guys are at home alone with each other, is he Colby or is he Seth?

Oh, he's Colby. I've never, I think I once called you Seth very early on just like out of habit. Like to my face? Yeah. And then you're like, ooh, hated that. Oh, yeah, I would be so weirded out if you called me that. How did you come up with Seth Rollins? Because it's like such a like, it's a, like a name.

It's just a name. Anyone could have that name. It's a cool name. I made, see, I don't know that it's a cool name. I made a list. When I got hired to WWWE in 2010, I had to sign my life way. And they wanted to own your character, so I had to come up with a new name. I was Tyler Black before that.

That was my other alias. But I had to use a different name so WWE could own it. And I came up with a list. lists. I had first names. I had last names. I took it into the American Dream Dusty Roads. And he went through them. He had his little glasses and he was looking at him and he's saying them all out loud. He liked, I think he liked Seth because he spoke with a Lisp and it was funny for him to say Theth. That's it, baby. Seth Rhineland. That's it now. And I'm Mackey, Rutherlandia. Seth Rallin. That's it. We've done. You got it, baby. Go do your thing.

Anything that comes out of Dusty's mouth, the mouth is gold. He's one of the greatest talkers in the history of our business. So, yeah. Both of you have gone by so many different names. How common is that in your space? You know, I feel like in, you know, like the musical space, most people, you know, start out with a name. And then they're like 10 years in, like, I hate that name. But I got to keep going by it because that's what everyone knows me as.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of a moniker because I hate my name. I yeah Rebecca Quinn No I love Rebecca Quinn That's a great name Rebecca Quinn rocked Yeah What a great name

Becky Lynch Lynch Lynch I just said It doesn't roll off the tongue And how did you get that name? So harsh Well unlike Kobe over here I was

Way more often on the chopping block So I came up with names That I thought were super cool And then they kept saying No, no No And then eventually

They just got like a combination of Becky and an Irish name and Lynch was one of the ones that they approved. And I kind of wanted to keep a bit of my own name so that it's less confusing than Seth. Two different names. You know, that at least whenever the time comes that I'm done, I can still be Rebecca, Becky. And then Lynch. And I didn't feel like I could push back. So I was just like, okay.

What is like the criteria for choosing a name? if, you know, them saying, who is them that are, that are choosing? Who is them? Who is them? That is the question. Who is them? I don't know, actually, who is, who was them. You're like, I've only spoken to a black screen.

Who was them or is them? It was a combination between our legal department and our creative team. I mean, you had to have a name that nobody else had. So if there was a Brian, you couldn't be a Brian. If there was a, you know, your last name had to be different. You know, there was no Seth and there was no Rollins, which was, you know, two of the reasons I had the names on the list. And when I got signed, you couldn't, like, Colby was not an option.

I couldn't use a, I couldn't use a different spelling of Colby. I couldn't be Kobe. I couldn't do anything that was close to it because they were so, like, anal about we need to own this character and you can't take any of it with you. So, you know, that's just how it was back then. They were very, it's different now. How long ago is this? This was 15 years ago.

Yeah, 15 years ago, the people in charge were like, no, we need to own every facet of this character in perpetuity. You can't have any of it. it. So even Tyler Black, I tried to sell them Tyler Black because I wanted to keep it because I had made a name off of Tyler Black. But they wouldn't. They wouldn't let they would not buy it. What changed? Administration. Administration. Yeah, I suppose they just they became, they got new people in. They figured out, you know, oh, we can actually do a 50-50 deal on it. We can figure something out. Like they

would just, you know, if they just, people at the top of the time were just very like, it's slippery slope so we're not going to even go down that road. Here's how it's going to be. Figure it out. Deal with it later. That's fascinating. I mean, it's really fascinating the industry you guys are in. I mean, I remember the days of Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam, Bigelow, Hank, the Snake, the Ultimate Warrior. And obviously, we love, like, reality TV. Our entire audience loves TV and just, like, the behind the scenes. And I feel like wrestling is like the OG reality TV of an industry that's really taken off. And I love the unreal show because it really really peels back the layer of the production of it.

Because like I remember back in the day when I was a kid, it was like, you didn't talk about whether it was real or not. Gosh. Now my mind is like, because you said that it's the original reality TV, but I feel like it's like the opposite of reality TV. In what way? Well, because reality, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, you're right.

But because it was supposed to be shrouded in mystery, you know, whereas I feel like reality TV, the essence of it or like the ultimate thing of it is that it's real. And I don't want to use the F word about wrestling, but I don't know. Ah, gosh, yeah. I don't know that it's the OG. It's the OG in a weird way because I feel like the most interesting stuff has always been the stuff that's behind the scenes. That is real where there's that there's that gray area where you don't really know whether it's real or not. Because you're supposed to believe that it's real, right?

All of it. Sort of. Originally, originally with wrestling. So now I'm like, oh, poof. Your mind is blown. My mind is a little bit blown. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

I mean, once the lid started to come off of it, probably in the mid-90s or so, it certainly became far more interesting what was going on behind the scenes or what was real as opposed to like what existed in the storytelling part of it. And then it became nowadays, it's like, you know, because we've peeled the curtain back so much, especially with this unreal show, it's like, how do we leverage? Because you still want, you still want people to believe that there's some reality to it. But now that they see everything, how do you create conflict with that reality? Like, how do you tell a story? How do you make it interesting with that reality?

And so it's a totally different paradigm for us and how we navigate. this world and tell our stories while still doing this sort of fake fighting thing. I don't know any other way to... And it's really fascinating because you, you know, in the episode one, they were talking about how you were like going to turn heel. And for those who don't know what that means, it's like a villain, which is very, you know, common in reality TV, who's the villain? And it says, I thought it was really fascinating because, like, you guys, you will set up the

storyline, you'll have a plan, but like, you don't know how the audience is going to react, right? And I imagine in fights, you guys have a plan, but the plan often maybe goes off the rails. And even though, like, it's fake fighting, it seems like this is a very physically demanding sport where, like, injuries happen, and, like, people get hurt. And it's just like, I mean, it's fake,

but it really seems like you guys are putting your heart and soul into this. And, like, the human side, I mean, for you guys, how disconnected can you get from the characters versus, like, you are living this experience and just the audiences react. seems to be such a big part of your characters and your livelihood. Like it must be kind of, I don't know, kind of a mind trip, you know, juggling the two. Yeah, I think it's easier to juggle the two when you're a bad guy.

Okay. Because you don't associate that with yourself. Right. You know what I mean? Whereas when you're supposed to be beloved and the good guy, you want to bring the best parts of you that are. you and when they reject that then they're rejecting you you know so it feels like it burns more yeah you know what yeah yeah yeah yeah when you're because when you're a bad guy like no one everyone's a hero of their own story in real life right so no one everyone walks along tells their own story but

no one thinks of themselves as the villain in real life you know you think of yourself as the you're the you're the star of the show you know and so you're the main character and you're the good guy and everything you know everybody's doing you wrong and so in real life you process that way but when you're playing a villain it feels like you're playing a character whereas like she's saying she's right when you're playing a uh you know a protagonist a hero a baby face if you kind of feel like it's you and so yeah when you don't get the affirmation that you're the action that they are a fan favorite it feels like a personal attack you feel like you're easy to get in your head whether if you're if you're yeah very easy to get in your head but it is

There is definitely an element of realism to kind of play off what you were saying. I mean, I'm nursing. I just got rotator cuff surgery two months ago that I, from an injury that I suffered in the ring. You know, I've done my ACL, I've broken my jaw, separated both my shoulders, meniscus on my left knee. You know, I've got countless injuries and stuff like that. So there's definitely an element of reality to that part of it, no doubt about it, the physical nature. Things do go off the rails commonly. The audience is they're a participant in the show.

They're sort of a character in the show. because their opinion of, they get to react in real time to what's happening. And the best of us, we're able to sort of predict that reaction, which is what we're doing as we're telling the story. We're going, okay, here's what we think the reaction is going to be. And, you know, most of the time we're pretty good at it. But there are certainly times where the reaction is not at all what you thought. And if you're out of touch with your audience and what they're doing, your response has to be

in real time. And you have to be able to change that to, you know, flip the switch, so to speak, and to get them to sort of ride the ride that you want them to be on. So, yeah, there is certainly an element of planning and, like, pre-production that goes into it. But there's also an intense level of improvisation and storytelling that is pretty much, I would say, unmatched in any other form of live entertainment. Stand-up comedy is the only one that I would, like, kind of liken it to that. maybe like live concerts, but anything else, there's, there's really no other art form that like kind of does it the way we do it. When you first got into this sport, what was that training like of kind of putting these

stories together, but also like the physical side of everything? When we first got into it, when we first got into it, I don't think any, we weren't considering stories. We were just considering moves. We're like, oh, what's a cool move? And trying to come up with your own being originally. Yeah. And how do you get the audience to respond to a move?

I certainly, I don't know about you. I wasn't thinking about storytelling well into my career in WWE. I was like, how can I do the best cool moves? How did you guys, both of you get into it? I was a fan growing up. You mentioned a lot of those guys. I was a fan of those guys grown up. My dad took me to a show when I was like four years old.

And I just became fascinated by the idea that these were like real life superheroes, you know. Hogan and Warrior and Legion of Doom and then there were real life villains. These people that you could reach out and touch as opposed to like comic book heroes like Batman or Spider-Man or whatever. Like that never really resonated with me the way like, oh, he's right there. Like Hulk Hogan's sweat could fly on me, you know? Like he's right there. He really beats up these bad guys. So I became obsessed with it.

And then when I was a teenager, like probably right before went to high school, the attitude era is blowing up. So then you've got like Stone Cold Steve Austin, the rock, triple age, Degeneration X and all the, you know, Mick Foley, all these guys. McFoly. Yeah, wrestling is just massive at the time. It's sort of like, you know, invaded pop culture. And also it's the advent of the internet. And you can connect with people from all over the world. And also like we like backyard wrestling became a big thing.

So me and my friends started like doing it in our backyard. So we did it. We put on shows. We'd give out flyers. And I was just obsessed. I told my folks like I was like, I'm done playing basketball, man. This is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. So in high school, I started like taking acting classes, taking public speaking classes, got gym membership so I could, you know, get in some sort of shape.

And then I was doing these backyard shows for my friends. And once I got turned 18, I was like, I'm going to get trained. And so I went and got trained. How about you, Rebecca? So I grew up again watching professional wrestling and loved it. And me and my brother would wrestle on our mom's bed and stuff and put on little shows. And then like around eight or nine, I fell out of it and was like, oh, this were babies.

And then when the attitude era blew up, my brother would watch it. And I would make fun of him. And it was like, good. It's all that fake. And he'd be like, no, it's actually really good. And I'd be like, whatever. And then I would watch McFoley cut these promos. And I was just drawn in by his ability to tell a story and his way of speaking.

And, you know, it was the first time that I really got invested and I wanted him to win. And then I tell my brother, just call me when McFolley's on. And then that was it. Then I was in. And then I was hooked. And then around 15, I was failing P.E. I was up to no good. I was a bit of a degenerate

and I decided that I was going to get my life on track and that coincided with Finn Baller, Virgil Debbett, opening a wrestling school like about an hour away from me. So then me and my brother went down, took the train, the hour-long train every week and walked the 30 minutes to this little wrestling school in the countryside in Ireland,

but not the countryside and Bray. It felt like the countryside. But, and then, yeah, I would just, do that every Sunday. And then I'd go over to England and I'd wrestle in wrestling camps over there. And then when I was 17, I dropped there to college and I moved off to Canada and I wrestled over there. And so anyway, that was how I started. Wow. Do you remember your first match in WWV? So it's tough to say because when I signed in WWB was 2010, I went to developmental. So I was in the developmental system called Florida Championship Wrestling for two years, which

eventually became NXT. So it's all kind of a part of WWE. I moved up to the main roster in November of 2012 and my first official match was a six-man tag at Survivor Series. I'm sorry, TLC. It was December of

2012 as myself, Roman Reins and Dean Ambrose against Ryback, Daniel Bryan, and Kane. That was my first main roster featured match. But all the other ones before that, the developmental matches. I don't really remember those.

Was that kind of a real surreal moment? Like, you know, I can only imagine, like, as a kid watching it. Like, it just must feel, did you have, like, I can't believe I'm here type of moment? Yeah, I mean, we debuted the month before at Survivor Series where we, like, jumped CM Punk or no, we jumped Ryback and John Cena was in the match as well, I believe. And, like, this was the main event of a major pay-per-view for WWE. and immediately like we're the biggest thing that's being talked about like the next day and I remember feeling like wow this is insane like we're finally here like everything I'd worked for in my

whole life and now like we just kicked the door down and I get to do my dream like I get to live my dream you know so I do remember feeling like that and like we had this really sick entrance where we'd come through the crowd to kind of this pretty badass music and our first pay-per-view match that I mentioned was in the Barclays Center and I think it's a it was definitely the first pay-per-view at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. It might have been like the first event. We might have opened Barclay Center. I, you know, don't quote me on that.

But I remember feeling a place was sold out. The energy was like insane. And I was like, this, this is what I want. This was what I worked for and, you know, suffered for and spent thousands of hours in the car and, you know, slept in my car and, you know, was poor and all that stuff. Like, that's, this is what I, this is, well, it was all worth it for that moment. No, that's a cool story. I imagine the walkout and like having a walkout song, I feel like started with wrestling.

Maybe it was, I don't know, I guess boxing or all their sports. No, it was Michael Hayes. Michael PSA's and the fabulous freebirds did it before anybody. And then, you know, they picked up on it, WWF picked up on it in the early 80s, I would say. And he had real American and, but yeah, yeah, Michael PSA's. He was genius, genius, revolutionary head of his time. Is that, that must be like a fun moment every time you're walking out. Do you get to pick your own songs or is that also like a collaboration between them?

There's a lot of them involved with that. Yeah, yeah, because they want to own your song too. So it's not, you don't just get to pick, oh, you know what, let's call ACDC up and get a track, you know, Metallica. Let's see what for whom the bell tolls. Yeah, yeah, that's available. No, they want to own it. They want to be able to sell it. They want to make money off it.

So it has to be an original track. A lot of times you have to use their artists who they, you know, they have like a house. Sure. People that build it or whatever. So that's what I did with my current song. She actually was able to get one of our favorite bands to do her. I just got new entrance music. And it was a process, it was a process, but we're friends with a band called The Wonder Years.

And I was coming back and I text them. I was like, would you do my entrance music if I can get it approved? And they were like, yes, absolutely. Two days later, they came back with this banger of a song. And I was like, oh, damn. And then it's going through the process of making sure the WDWE owns it and how that works. But so kind of, did I kind of pick out my own interests? You sort of.

Yeah, sort of. What was, do you remember the conversation you had with your father or your brother after your first, like, big match? Obviously, your dad took you at four. You trained with your brother. No, I do remember when I won my first. World Championship, which would have been in 2015 at WrestleMania. I don't remember if it was the following, yes, probably the following week because I still lived in Iowa. I grew up in Iowa.

I remember taking the belt back to, I grew up in this tiny town called Buffalo, and we used to wrestle in my dad's backyard. My dad was a psychopath for letting us do it, but, you know, thank goodness he did. I took the title back to Iowa, to Buffalo, to that backyard. with my brother and my dad and I took a picture of all of us in that yard. So I remember that. And my dad's not like, he's a jokester.

He just tells jokes. Nothing is ever serious to him. So he doesn't, he would never give you. Like he never, he would never, if he told you he was proud of you, it would be followed with some sort of joke about,

like, how he was totally responsible for all of it or something like that, you know? So he's never been one to like let you know sentimentally how he felt. But I do feel like he's always had a little bit of pride about it. And like he'll text me

occasionally and be like, because he watches every week, but he'll be like, he'll text and be like, is this, what's going on with this? How's this storyline going to shake out and stuff like that? So he keeps tabs on it. But yeah, I do have that moment with him taking the title back. And I remember probably finding on my

Instagram somewhere it's way back there. With these things planned out, you know, winning a title. And then, you know, again on the Unreal show, you won the tag team title. And then it felt like right away that was taken away from you. Yeah, taken away from me. There's a lot of corruption in the system right now. But like how, you know, when it's like, hey, you're going to be a champion.

And then like, and then you find out that, hey, we have a bigger plan. Do you guys ever like push back or do you have to just let it play out and trust the process? Is it a challenge to like concede that sometimes? As I get older, I push back a lot. Okay. Less. Oh. I found it, it's futile.

You know, I've pushed back so much, so much in my career. And I'm now starting to realize, ah, you just got to, you just got to make the best. The pushback, I think, I don't want to confuse people. The pushback's not like, I need to keep this title. No, no, no. The pushback is like, what's the best story? Yes, yes, yes. What's the best story?

Are we doing the right thing? You know what I mean? From a story perspective, from an audience. audience perspective, like, are we telling the right story? Because you have so many creative people in WWE and everyone has kind of a different idea of what the best story is going to be. And so, you know, it's a creative process and it's a collaborative process. But yeah, when you're, you know, when you're young, you, you're a little more. You fight for what you really think is right. Yeah. And then you're, some, you're wrong so many times, you know, as well. That's the other thing.

You learn that they know what they're doing. They're going to work. They're going to hate it. it. And then it turns out that it's awesome. You know, and you're like, oh, well, all right. Do either of you remember a specific moment of improvisation where afterwards you were like, that was fucking crazy. Oh, there was a time. I mean, a lot of times it's like injuries, when injuries happen. And then like, yeah, then you're like, what, what do we even do? Like, how does that go? Or there's like promo segments that just go off the rails because the crowd is so wacky. Like, this wasn't me, but I remember there was one specific, there's two that jump out to me.

One was, there was this story the WWE was telling in, gosh, it would have been like 2013, 12, something like that. Anyway, they had neglected this character named Daniel Bryan to the point where the audience wanted him to be the main character so badly. They were near his hometown in Seattle and all these big stars are in the ring and Brian's like all. to the side and the crowd just hijacked the whole segment and was chanting for brian the entire time and that was pretty sick and people couldn't cut their promo because like they kept just chanting for brian over it there was another one i remember were like one of our friends kevin owens he was out there doing a segment with was it with Elias maybe and they were playing they were doing something with like a because he guitar Elias played a guitar and he would sing songs about the town and he sung i think it was actually

sail too and he like buried the sonics who had left to go to uh oklahoma city and the crowd just like he couldn't say another he couldn't get anything else done during it like injuries are the big one like i broke john seen his nose one time in a match and he had to continue but it was a bad break like it was like sideways like to where they they it was so much blood i felt so bad but he finished the whole match and do you have like a conversation after that of like sorry oh my god i was so apologetic and not that's Not only for the after, for weeks after, I apologize. I probably still apologize to John.

Was he pretty gracious about it? Oh, of course, because everything, you know what happens? It's all accidents. No one's like, I mean, if someone tries to hurt you, that's a different animal. But like, I think you'd always rather be hurt than be the person who hurts somebody as well. That's the other thing. Is there ever, like, if someone experiences like real injury, do you feel like the rest are almost like for all the things that people think is fake? They almost want the credit for like really taking the actual injury.

Or like, does John Cena want people to know? Like, no, my nose is actually broken as opposed to people thinking, there might be a little bit of pride in that, I suppose. Yeah. I mean, like, when you got your nose broken and you just had the blood gushing and you're just like hands are up and crowd is going wild, do you, did it feel like, I hope, like, this is actually real? Like, I'm in pain, everybody.

Oh, yeah. No, I was so out of it and concussed that I didn't really know what was going on. And there wasn't another option. You know what I mean? Like it was very tunnel vision. You know, okay, this is what I got to do. Okay, the red lights on. Okay, now turn and walk and leave. Okay, where am I? Wow. What happened? Who were you? You played it so well. I mean, it does. I mean, you guys are incredible actors in just the way that like it looks like it's all part of it. I mean, that adrenaline is going. Yeah. Yeah. I can't stop for nothing. and once the adrenaline's going.

You guys are married. How did you guys meet? Brassalon. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. At work. She was up for like a little.

I was an extra at that time and I came up. Oh my God. And back at the time like girls when you were on the road or like showed up for TV, you had to be in very nice dresses, but not actually nice. Just very slutty dresses. You know, that was considered nice. You had to love. Club wear.

Yeah. Club wear. Club wear. Club wear. Club wear. So I, you know, I'm trying to fit in. And I'm not like girly or like good at that stuff at all. So I had this piece of material on.

And like I was trying to stick hair extensions in and they were hanging out of my head and eyelashes that were closer to my eyebrows than my eyelids. Colby was like, wow. She's beautiful. Who made the first minute? But I was jacked. She was jacked. She was very easy to spot.

She was like her hair was bright orange at the time. And her skin was also spray tan to match her hair. Bright orange. Yeah. I always wanted to talk to her first. I was just, but we were, this was. Well, I introduced myself. She introduced herself as she was, you know, the hierarchy.

You're always supposed to go up. Go and say hi to everybody. Which is so nerve wracking. Really? You're just like, hi, hi, hi, I'm Rebecca. Hi, I'm Rebecca. And you feel like you're interrupting people. and annoying people the whole time.

But then you feel like if you don't go up and say, hi, I'm Rebecca. They're going to be like, she's done. She's done. Kick her out of here. I mean, of course, they don't care and they don't notice. But you just didn't want to get that reputation. So she came up to introduce herself and I like a plate of food and I was just eating and I was

getting ready for the show. And she was like, I remember Rebecca. And I'm like, oh, I'm Colby. What's your story? What's your deal? And she just talked my head off for an hour straight. I wasn't really expecting it. It was like 40 minutes, legit.

Yeah. First time I ever met her, she just went, blah, blah, blah, blah. I was like, oh, okay, all right, great. So wait a wait, wait, just like, who asked who on a date? Like, oh, that was years later. Yeah, years later. This was in 2014. That was 2014.

So you guys, like, well, friends first. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We didn't start dating until 2019. So, like, when did that happen where it was like, oh, wait, maybe. Maybe. Maybe. 2018. And to 2018.

Yeah, into 2018, early. 2019, like, I don't know, just, I was like, man, maybe, maybe, you know, maybe there's kind of want to kiss her. Maybe, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I kind of want to kiss her in the mouth. That's, that's actually, yeah, that's kind of what happened. Yeah, I was kind of like, yeah, you know what? She's pretty hot. What am I, maybe, yeah, maybe I kind of want to kiss her a little bit, you know,

because we already had the friendship thing down. Yeah, yeah. And I was like, well, you know, maybe the vibes can translate, you know. But I was also like, all, I just got not. a relationship and I was like not looking for anything serious. Classic, classic man. Such a cliche. Such a cliche.

Not looking for anything serious. And so, yeah, I was like flirting, but, you know, I wasn't sure what I was doing entirely. And then she was like, well, here we are. Are you going to do it or not? Wow. She put me right on the spot. I was very nervous.

Well, like you've been like really throwing it out there for a moment, you know. So then I was like, all right, well, if you're throwing it out that hurt, let's go. Yeah, I was very scared. I was very nervous. I was like, that's not how I thought it would go. That's how you know you care. Oh, yeah, yeah, super nervous. So we jumped in and then it was cool.

Is there any part that was kind of like, are we mixing business with pleasure? Oh, totally. I broke it off very quickly on. You did? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I had heard all of his, you know, I don't. I don't think monogamy is for me. And yeah,

I've been thinking to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. When I met her, I was like, I'm never getting married. Yeah. Oh, right. Yeah. That's where I was at.

That's where you know, I was just like, I had these relationships. You didn't work out. You know, I was, you know, in my 20s, I was like romantic and then it didn't like work out. And I was kind of like, you know what? I don't need marriage.

Like, oh, that was it. What's marriage? Yeah. Yeah. What are we doing? Yeah. And then, you know, you know, you know, you know, you meet someone. .

You're like, I want to make it work with you. Oh, I wasn't, I knew right away. As soon as she, soon as she said, I'm out, I was like, oh, no, you are not. You are in. You are coming in. I was like, what is wrong with me? I am a psychopath. I cannot let this slip through my fingers just because I think I'm not good at monogamy.

No, I just wasn't with the right person. That's why I wasn't good at being a partner because I, you know, was selfish and didn't understand that relationships are about putting your partner first and you're not, you know, you have to be a friend with somebody and you have to, there's a respect. I mean, it's a whole bunch of crap. Essentially,

I wasn't with the right person. Yeah, I think that's a common story with guys too. We were, you know, kind of dating, fucking around for a few months. She kept trying to date me.

I kept saying, no, no, no, no, no. And then she was like, fuck it. I'm out. And then, you know, she's a bit younger than me.

And I was pretty self-conscious about that. And she was like, well, I'm just going to go out with a doctor who's older than you. And I remember, she was like, I'm going on vacation with my sister.

And I was like, and I was just like, and we were kind of like trying to like distance ourselves and I lost my shit. Yeah. Like I was like calling my girlfriends. I was stalking her Instagram. What am I doing? Like I just felt like kind of almost like a 22 getting where I was just like I'm just, I am not myself.

And I was like when you get and like literally she got back from vacation and I like flew her out. I'm like, let's just make this work. Because I just, I remember for the first time and for. forever that like I hadn't lost myself like for a girl like that where I was just like panicking that like I had fucked up. Oh yeah. You know in a crazy way. So yeah, I think you had a similar. Oh yeah. Yeah. She told me because like we were, you know, at first like you said, you know, you don't want to mess up the work. We didn't want to date within the work pool anyway because, you know, there's conflict of interest and it's like, oh, what if we break up? It's awkward.

We'd seen it a million times. Other people had done it. It was just not. great. It's like, ah, I don't know. And then, you know, again, I was a serial monogamous and, you know, a pretty not great partner. And I didn't think I was fit for it, yada, yada. And then we started kind of fooling around a little bit. It was awesome. And I was, I was like kind of comfortable with that at first. I was like, oh, this is great. You know, it's easy. And then the second she was like, ah, this doesn't work for me. I don't want to be half in. What are we doing if we're not, why are we? You can just do your thing. And then we can be friends and it'll be great. happy about this revelation.

I was like, oh my God, wait till I tell him, he's going to be delighted. He's going to love this. I did not, in fact, I was like, I was like, and then like, I remember that week, like, thinking like, I probably let it sit for like three days. And I was like, no, we need to. This is, no, I don't want it. I don't want. I just want you.

It's all I want. This is all I want. I just want you. And she was still kind of like, eh, I don't know. And then I think it was like later that weekend, she was at like a, signing or something in Louisiana or something and like saw some people with shirts of my shirts like Seth Rollins shirts, right? Yeah.

And it gave me the idas, you know? Like when I saw them, I just lit up and like, I was like, oh, isn't he so great? You know? And I just wanted to talk about how great he was. And there's this massive line of people. And then I'm just talking about how great Seth Rollins is. And then I was like, God damn. I do like him.

Crap. Yeah, that was like almost that moment You're like well fuck it What am I doing? You know, you're just like Oh, I mean, as soon as she said she was out I was like, no, that is, I've gone about this all wrong Yeah, I've gone about this all wrong.

And then when she came back to me and told me that That she was like, no, I think, okay, I think I want to do this. Yeah. So how long did you date before you got married? I mean, that feels, oh, before we got married? Well, we dated. I started ring shopping like within two months. Stop. Oh, yeah, I knew right away.

I was telling people, I was telling my friends immediately when we started dating. I was like, oh, yeah, we're probably going to get married. So you can just, you can bank on that. Yeah. Yeah. Did you know that at the time? Gosh, well, no, I was still a little nervous because of everything he had told me. Like, it was so easy and it was so comfortable.

But I was like, ah, don't, don't pull the cart before the horse or whatever. Yeah, put the cart for the horse. Yeah. I was. So it took me maybe a little second longer. Because like what I said to him when I was like, I can't do this was that either like I go in full armor and I don't feel anything or I don't go in full armor and I'm just looking to get pummeled.

So either way, that may be a choice of words. But anyway, either way, like it's not a good outcome for me. It's just nothing, you know? But yeah, I mean, I said no and I got the ring and then I mean, I proposed to her in August. So we started dating the end of January. I mean, like officially in February-ish. And then by August we were engaged. And then we were going to get married in 2020.

So this would have been August 2019. Yeah. And we were going to get married in the next year 2020. COVID screwed that up. So we lost a year. And we ended up doing it in 21 because we wanted to get married in Hawaii, which is where we got engaged. And then we wanted to go back and do a little destination, but why he was, nobody's coming in.

They were very straight. So to have even, we had a small wedding, but they were like, to try to get 20 people there was like, too much. How did you guys break the news to your colleagues that you guys were all of a sudden in a relationship? Oh, they knew right away. They did know right away. But it was also in a whoop group chat that I think you said, said sorry about my girlfriend.

And I was like, oh wow. That's so fun. I don't remember that one. Yeah, I said something. I probably was poo-pooing something. There's been other, obviously, wrestlers who have dated. Are there like HR policies or guidelines? Or they're just like it.

Do they like it when that happens? Do they what? Like it? Yeah, do they like it? Storyline, do they, oh, what can we do with this? I don't think they one way or the other. I think they go with it, but they are actually very accommodating with it. Like they try to keep couples on the same show.

Like the same schedule. For the most part, which, yeah, is very kind of them. Yeah, I mean, I think they were, I mean, we spend, because we're year-round, WWS constants, there's no off-season. And it used to be where there would be upwards of, I mean, they would run well over 500 shows a year between the, because they do two TV shows every week and then tons of live events. Sometimes, sometimes four, five, six live events, depending on if they were running

simultaneous live events on the same weekend. And so you would spend all this time with these people. Like you would spend way more time with these people than you would, your family or your friends at home. It wasn't even close. You'd be on the road so much. So I think they understood that obviously relationships were going to happen. And one of the biggest things, at least for us that works, and I don't know how it is for

other people, is that we, like, regular people just don't get what we do. They just do not understand it. They don't understand the schedule, the sacrifice, what it takes. So, like, for us to have each other's back in that regard and understand what sacrifices need to be made, you know, like, if I have to be gone for whatever amount of time, there's no pushback. There's no, like, resentment. There's nothing. The other one just picks up the slack and vice versa. You know, she's got to go shoot Star Trek, and then she's got to go beyond the road, and she's got to go to Saudi for Rural Rumble, and she's got to go to Europe for two weeks for, for WWE.

It's like, okay, you know, there's no pushback. There's no like, well, you're not here and me. I'm doing all. There's none of that. It's just, I get it. That's the work, you know, that's the job. And to have that, WWE, I think they understand that. They understand that that's just, you know, when you have everybody constantly traveling

together, you get to know each other, you spend a lot of time together, you understand each other. That's bound to happen. So, yeah, there are, I'd say quite a few romances in the mix. And they are very accommodating schedule-wise. It's quite nice. But sometimes they do stuff with. it and sometimes they don't. Yeah.

You know, her and I, they put us on screen as a, as a partnership. But like other couples, like, you know, Bianca Bel Air, Montess Ford, don't really do anything with them. They did. They started off doing something with them. A little bit. A little bit. Yeah, but there wasn't like a romance thing, right?

Well, she was with them in the beginning. With all of them, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Do you think it'd be fun to have one of you guys, like, turn on each other as far as storyline? I just don't know what you'd get out of that because we can't have a match, I suppose. You know? Yeah. Yeah, I don't know.

Also, like, our world is such a weird gray area that, like, people, we would, people would know we're not really. You know what I mean? We're going to dinner together on Tuesday night and we're fighting on Monday. It's like, I don't think anybody. That makes sense. So you kind of almost have to ask, like, what is, you know, what is believable? What is viable? Are people going to buy into the storyline?

Like you said, if it doesn't work, like, why fuck around with it? Yeah, you really have to tread that line of reality. the time. It's got to be one of the other, right? It's got to be like, there's got to be the thread in that gray area where you can really make them, you know, really hook people like, oh, I don't know if that's real or not. Do they really like each other or not? I don't know what's going on there. Or it's got to be like the opposite where it's full, like a full piece of stories, full piece of fiction, you know what I mean? And they're just, they're watching it the way they watch Game of Thrones or something like that. So you kind of got to do like one or the other. There's not like

in middle space that works, I find. If you're, like, insulting it and you're, like, throwing it in their faces, it kind of doesn't really work, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. You two of you obviously have a very beautiful daughter. She's the best. She's so, I mean, in the show, we see her as a baby in the first couple of us,

says she's very beautiful. When did you know you were ready to start and grow your family? I forgot. I felt like I was ready real quick. Really? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. To have a kid? Yeah. I mean, yeah, but the schedule didn't really permit it because, you know, when you live working in a physical industry. I know. Well, I was curious about that. I mean, we work together. I love working with my wife. It's a lot of fun. We didn't, you know, I started the show before we met. And then it was like, I think you could be really good at this. And it just kind of happened. And then we had a daughter together and we make it work. But I'm just really fascinated with you guys. To your point, you're on the road all the time. You are, you know, you're giving your body to wrestling. It's physically demanding. And then obviously being a mom as a whole another universe. Like I must that must have been, you know, having those conversations about like how you, you know, you're giving your body.

guys make like as you're like hey we're going to do this were there conversations about like well how are we going to make it so before the pandemic happened i i just want to have a kid anyway so it was like well i think i'll just have one and then come back you know and make it work and figure it out because i don't want to skip over that part of my life which can often happen when you're can never it never feels like the right time step away to make that decision And, you know, and it's hard to get that back. And I was at the top of my career. But part of me, I don't know if it's self-destruction or just like a rebellion where I'm like, I'll make it work.

Just wanted to figure it out and have both. And then the pandemic happened. And then I saw that we would be wrestling in front of no people for a prolonged period of time. I was like, you know, this might be a good time to sneak a kid in. Yeah. And so, like, timing worked out so perfectly. And then when we came back, like, everything fell perfectly into place. We have a bus.

We have a bus driver, Andy, who's like family. He looks after us so incredibly. I wish I could clone him. And then he said that his wife was looking to leave her job. And we were like, oh, great, let's take her on. So she was our nanny and she would travel everywhere. because we were on the road four or five days a week. And we would just bring our daughter everywhere.

She was on the bus. She was in arenas. She was, we would bring her to every kids museum, park, zoo, etc. And all these different towns all around the world. But it was like, you know, she had another aunt and uncle with Andy and Jackie. And, yeah, it was just incredible. And how did you manage postpartum in getting back ready for the ring? He trained with me a lot

And that was Getting my body back was Way easier than I thought Because she just sucked the life out of me I breastfed for over two years So I probably didn't sleep for the first two years And then after that I didn't realize that postpartum depression

Can hit you once you're done breastfeeding So then that was wacky And then I was a mess For like another six months And a total took me a while to realize what was going on. It was until one of the girls, Beth Phoenix, explained that that can happen to you after you're done, that I realized, oh, okay, I need to get some help. And then once I did that, then everything was fine. But it was poor Colby.

It was treacherous for a while. I had to put up with me for. Yeah, God bless. You women are your superheroes. It's insane. What you have to deal with from like a childbirthing perspective and everything that comes thereafter hormonally, I was blown away. You know, we're dudes, we're simple creatures. We're just like, ma, video games, football, cool, you know?

Like, we do not have this to deal with hormonally, emotionally. Like, we just do not. So having to navigate that, be a mom, be a wife, be a performer, and like manage all that internally and how that affects, I mean, it was wild. to see. I don't think I've ever been more impressed than watching my wife be a mother and like figure out how to navigate all that and do it so effortlessly. Like, you know, I think, in on one hand, it's so kind. It was not effortless. It's losing my mind. Yeah, but you, you didn't. You were like, I'm losing my mind.

Stop it. You know, and then you were able to figure it out. Like, the fact that you were able to figure it out and like, you mentioned you had help and all that. But I mean, it's such an impressive thing to, and not just, just you, but all of you guys, all of you women who do that, it's just, to me, I go, wow, I could never, you know, I could never. So it was really cool. And we got to travel the world with our kid and experience, you know, Europe. She went to Europe with us a couple times. We took her to Saudi Arabia a couple times, took her every single state in the country.

She went all over the place. Like, it was a really awesome thing to be able to share that experience with her. She'll not remember any of it at all. But to be able to do both and, you know, say, hey, we did that once. And when we tell her about it, like, even now when we kind of reminisce about it, I'm like, that's nuts. I can't believe we're doing that. Nuts. So she's five now.

She's five. We had that baby bag just going everywhere. Everywhere. Put her on the planes. We were never at home. Wow. When Rebecca was back in the ring, you know, in making your comeback, that must have been like just a really proud moment for you, knowing what it all took for you to, like, be a mom, raise your daughter. get your body back, you know, like this is the challenge.

But is there like a sense of pride that you felt like seeing her back? I don't know if pride was the right word, but certainly a sense of inspiration, you know. I mean, pride in that like, hey, that's my wife. Yeah. Like how awesome she is. Hey, hey, guys. Check it out. I got a real good one, you know.

So I think in that regard, yeah. But I think it was just, I was more just impressed by her ability to do it all, you know, and just put all that on her shoulders. and do it and do it so well. And like another thing is in our industry, women aren't allowed to do what she did. Like before, before her. She's truly a trailblazer in that regard.

I mean, there are a couple of them, a couple of women who had kids and were able to come back and they continue to do it. But not the way, in my opinion, not the way she did it. You know, I mean, she was at the top top. We're talking main event of WrestleMania. which is like winning the Super Bowl. First woman ever to do that two years later.

No, a year later. A year later, she's pregnant. And then a year and a half after that, she's back. And she's coming back to that elite level of storytelling, better than she's ever been, still able to get in there and do everything she did and more work with younger talent and help bring them up. I mean, there's so much that goes into it.

And the fact that she was able to do that. I mean, it sets a wild precedent. in the sense that I think it's going to be so hard to like keep up with that if you're a woman in our industry. But it also shows them, oh, what's possible. Yeah. You know, this is possible. It doesn't just have to be the way it used to be. It doesn't have to be the good old boys club and the girls, you know, they get 30.

Then they go away and retire and have kids and never do anything again. Like she showed people and women and young girls in our industry that you can do both. And you can do it like awesome. And that gift, that ability to trailblaze in that regard is going to change the way our industry works forever. Wow. Rebecca, what did you challenge, like, internally to do that? I don't know. No, I think I just was, it was that sense of rebellion of like, wait a minute, this is always the way that it has been.

Like, if you want to be a mom, well, then see you later. Right. You know. Your life's over once you have kids. Yeah. Yeah, but, you know, like I think of people that do have kids and they were able to balance the two, but they didn't have another person that was also on the road. They had or have people that stay at home and they've had, they had their kids before they started wrestling. So it seemed like if you wanted to go have a kid, then that was it, you know? And so, or you come back and you're on a part time schedule. I wanted to do both. And, you know, I was already challenging. what could be done. So I was like, what else can I challenge?

How did being a dad change your life? Oh, you know what? I think it could. I mean, patience is the biggest one. Yeah. I think patience. And also like, I think it was a progression of in our industry and in a lot of entertainment industries, I find that like to be super successful, there's a level of kind of selfishness

that you have to employ to get where you want to go. You know, you sacrifice a lot in terms of relationships and friendships and friendships and stuff like that to do the thing. And as I got later in life, and part of that is why I was such a bad relationship partner is because I was so self-involved. And as I got a little later in my life, and especially with her, I started to realize what it really meant to put somebody before you or put someone's needs equal to yours. And even that was a little bit of a thing in our relationship that was difficult for me to

like I could say it. I could verbalize it, but my actions didn't follow my words entirely. It took me a minute to like get there. And then when I had my kid when we had Rue, I remember like specifically one of the nights putting her to sleep or something and I'm like, I don't remember she was gone or whatever, but I remember being by myself and like, remember losing my patience with her. And she was crying and I like was mad about, you know, her not sleeping or something like that. And then I like did, you know, I went and got whatever or whatever. And I came back. And like, I was just like, what am I doing? What?

This is a baby. Like, this is a child. She doesn't, she just, you're totally responsible for every, every, every, everything that this kid has. You, she doesn't know. And I was like, oh, oh, I'm going about this all wrong. And that was like the last facade. That was like the end of it for me. And then it, and then so I learned really, truly what it meant to, for someone to mean more

than you. and for everything that they do is more kind of not more important, but it takes precedent. And to put that before all of the things that you care about yourself. And so I feel like that's part of me. Like that's like the was one of the my final like hurdles and like, oh, this is what it means to be a dad, a husband, you know,

a caretaker of a family or protector of a family. It's not about always leading the way and making the decisions and being the boss. It's actually about putting other people's, needs are for your own. And so I think that's really what that was like the biggest thing that I learned for. Yeah, I found it to be really rewarding the same way. It's like just waking up and knowing you have a purpose outside of yourself, you know, where it's just like you know why you're getting up, you know, like, because otherwise it's other things feel selfish or not as rewarding or just like things can be taken away from you. But like once you have that thing to protect

and take care of, it's like, yeah, I don't know. Like I just, I just became happier. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So much. Like, no matter what happens, you're just like, oh, well, I still got this. Yes. You know. You realize that it is actually the most important thing.

Like, I always felt like it was something that you'd see on homework movies where they're like, families, everything. And, you know, I came from a broken home. So did he. And so I didn't necessarily buy into that. I'm also very Irish, you know. I don't think that we're as much like that. But then you're like, oh, no, this really is.

everything. This is all that's important. Yeah. All that stuff is just extra. It's just fluff, you know? Right. Well, I know you guys get it going, but I just want to ask you guys, obviously, like, the W.W.E, WWF, where, you know, the industry has created some mega stars. You have The Rock. You mentioned John Cena. The Rock's up for an Oscar this year. You're doing Star Trek.

Do you guys have dreams and aspirations outside when your wrestling careers end to maybe follow the path of some of your biggest entertainers in the industry? I mean, I just love performing. So whatever I can do to continue telling stories and to perform, that's what I want to do. Yeah, I mean, I'm, uh, I talk about football. I got a, I got a part-time day doing that, uh, Chicago Bears. I'm a Packer fan. Oh, yeah.

Oh, you should have led with that. We are talking right now on the eve of one of the biggest Bear Packer games in a long, A long time. A few days. I died on Sunday. I markup, Micah Parsons. Yeah. Sorry about you. We hate to see that. We hate to see an ACL. As someone who's had that, I understand that pain. Get well soon, Micah. If you're listening. But yeah, no, I like doing that. That's like kind of a great thing for me. I think I'll be involved in the business in some way, shape, or form. I love it. It's given me everything. Obviously, my wife, I met there. My daughter, got a wrestling school. It's helped provide, you know, just a lot. life for me. And it's what I love. It's my number one passion. So I feel like I'll be a part of the WWE family for quite some time, as long as they'll have me, whether that's in the ring or behind the scenes. So we'll see how it goes. But if football comes calling, man, I love to be in the booth when the bears take down the Packers for the next two decades. That would be great. You feel good about

this weekend? I feel I feel good. Yeah. We're going. I feel good. We're going. Yeah, we're going. Yeah, we're going to Saturday. Oh, yeah. That's a lot of fun. Well, the show is WWWE on real. It's streaming on Netflix. Whether you are a fan of wrestling or not, it's a great documentary. It's fascinating. I think anyone listening to this show will definitely watch it. I appreciate you guys taking the time. It's always

fun to see a husband and wife duo working together and making it work and you're an inspiration to us and it's been a lot of fun getting to know you guys. Thanks for having us. I appreciate you guys. Hey guys, if you love what you listen to, make sure you hit that subscribe button below. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.