The Zach Nichols Podcast - Battle of the Eras EP. 4 Review w/ Paulie Calafiore | ZNP EP. 63

Episode Date: September 6, 2024

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All right. You guys ready to go? I'm ready. We're back with the Zach Nichols podcast. We are back. Go ahead. Oh, sorry. I was going to fuck myself.

You know, please do. We have our first ever return guest. He's family at this point. Polly Califiori in the motherfucking house. We're here, baby. We're here. Oh, yeah. First return guest, dude.

Yeah, first return guest. Well, actually, yeah. On the couch for the podcast? Yeah, on the couch. The first return guest. Absolutely. We got to do a quick plug. Yeah, let's do it.

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Yep, we take care of our own, which is why. Go ahead. It's like the mafia. Yeah. It's a Michigan thing. Yeah, 8-1-0 if you don't know. But we stick together, which is why we brought the dog back. Congratulations on, in my opinion.

I know short, but a great season 40. In my opinion, I know you're going to have a few things to say about it. I'm upset. I'm upset because. I knew you would be upset. I knew you would. We get this, like, we got what, how many seasons straight did you do? Four?

I did three. Three in a row. Just absolutely inseminated our screen for three seasons in a row. Then you get the boot, which I'm currently experienced. I'm not embarrassing myself. Oh, yeah. We didn't get to see you forever, which I think was a travesty to not only viewers,

but to the franchise. And then we get you back on CBS, where you originally started. We don't like them, really, because they're softer version of us. Now we get you back on the flagship. You get in there. You can tell you're itching to just destroy people.

In my opinion, you're in the wrong era. They put you in pink because that's when you started. But I truly think that you, you said it yourself you said it yourself you're not an error for personality I'm definitely not an error for personality at all I think they put us in pink because I came in

with the blonde hair and they're really running with the Ken thing from the Barbie movie you know I had the mojo dojo uh yeah so you think they only put air for in pink because you came in a blonde hair 100% they were like poli what colors your hair going to be this season I was like blonde and they were like you'll be pink

probably you just told that you guys to tell us about the interview top, man. What was the inspiration behind the interview top, bro? The shoulder exposed, you know what I'm saying? Honestly, dude, I was trying to show a little bit of shoulder. Yeah, right? A little little deep cut to the chest. It's a good looking shoulder. By the way, with the sleeve with the sleeves on the arms. Yeah, I got to say real quick, can we, you're in amazing shape, my brother. Look at you, man. I've been, I've been losing some weight and bulking, you know, I mean, if I ever have to go into a hall ball again, you're cut up,

you're cut up right now. I got to tell you this. Hall for all. Can I just say that I knew you were going to be disappointed in me this season because we had a long talk where you were like, Paulie, just go in, level-headed, cage the animal, let them come out a little later. But you could get a little bit further with your politics because you're not bad at politics. But, and as soon as I didn't, I was like, ah, Zach's going to be so disappointed. Here's the thing. And we saw, this is like something we saw with Tony, too.

When you do three, four seasons in a row, you were able to. to form relationships with people that you beefed with at first, for example, me, right? Now, when you get taken out of the mix, you don't, those relationships don't grow and blossom. And then when you come back, it's almost like everyone else has relationships that have been coming back. It's like, you would have been, if you would have kept coming back, you and Tori would have had a better relationship than Tori and Josh. You and Theo probably would have been able to work something out where, you know, so you had no one. You were nobody's number one except for Cara, and that really didn't do you.

you much good because you weren't in the same era and it had you didn't get far enough farther enough in the show for it to help you so that's what tony i feel like caught himself in you had zero number ones especially number one on your own team everyone was buddied up right um the other uh you know theo hated you or had beef against you so you really had an uphill battle from the start and that's why when a lot of times when pier's like oh you got to get back out there it's going to be great it's like it's not i have to literally fight for everything you get because you have to have zero number ones. I mean, look, let's just be honest, though.

Like, he got an unlucky vote. I mean, you know, we know that you went in and knew that, you know, Theo wanted you and you had that look in your eye where I believed in you for sure. But you didn't come last in that fucking competition. It was a lucky, unlucky, it was unlucky matchup, but, you know. It was an unlucky matchup. And then it was, you picked the worst card possible for you. It's the worst.

That's the most weight, intensive, dominant thing. However, what I will say was, Hall brawl, I learned this the hard way, is not necessarily a headbanger if you don't want it to be. It can be a chess match, and that's what happened to me. But that being said, 100 pounds, that's not, that's a tough detriment to go against in that. It's tough. And I like the way that you finessed your hall brawl in a chess match. And trust me, that thought crossed my mind, but I was like sitting here being like, man, this guy's six foot six.

Can I jump him? I didn't think you should have jumped him. I thought you should have just dove to the side, tried to get as low as possible, got under him, then grabbed the leg, and then beat him with speed. Because the one thing I do know about you is from zero to 20 yards. I don't think there's anyone in that house that'll beat you in that. I'm just being honest. I was a little hesitant about the only other strategy that I thought in my head, which in hindsight I probably should have did, was kind of let him hit me, absorb the blow. like a wrestling sprawl.

So kind of like as the blow came into me, like sprawl my legs back and kind of absorb it through. And then that way I'm in a position where my shoulder or my forearms are on his shoulders. And when he goes to push himself back up, that's when I drive my legs and try and push him back. The diving strategy, I was a little nervous because, you know, looking at the hall and then when you're actually lined up in the hall, you don't realize how narrow it is. It's narrow as shit.

It's very narrow. My shoulders. My shoulder way. 100%. And put shoulder pads on you there. I was like, if I dive and he comes any wrong way, my neck's broken. For sure. And, and, you know, maybe with somebody lighter weight, I wouldn't have that same hesitance.

But him coming in his size, I was like, you know, I don't want to break my neck. I don't want to break anything. So I guess I'll just get a couple of concussions and call him. a day. Yeah, that, though that was for sure. Yeah. I didn't like his tweet listing off all the people that he thinks could beat him in that because I'll tell you what, I might have two hits left on people in my life. And when that was happened, I'm going to blow. Everything's going to explode in me, but everything's going to explode in them. And if I ever get the chance, I'll try to get some redemption for you, home boy. Oh, I appreciate that, man. I mean, I want redemption on him as well.

Maybe not in a hall brawl, but I mean, I will bulk myself up. If you, for sure, like, what people don't understand is I think even the hard part about it though was if you get balls in the new balls in is almost worse than hall brawl because it's not about getting it in it's just getting in that ring and yeah he's six foot six he's just going to go straight head and try to just barrel his way in but pull russell or the uh take shelter were the ones that you had to you had to want those well even yeah and i also wanted the balls in because you know i'm i'm good with angles i'm quick and mad job and you can wrestle and i can wrestle so i i think in a balls in he's would have had to start it at a more standing up position, which would have given me leverage

for a tackle. Whereas Hall brawl, he was down low. There's nowhere to go. Exploded low. And as I watched it back, I'm like, man, he literally threw his whole body into that first round. Like he almost dropped to his knees. Yeah, he wasn't running his feet.

He was just extending. Yeah. And he didn't have to. Yeah. And the second round, kind of same thing. But, you know, he actually was smart enough to grab my foot, trip me up after that. He's not a bad athlete either. No, he's not a bad athlete.

I didn't even know until afterwards. He was like, yeah, by the way, I also played rugby. And I was like, yeah, I was like, yeah, but, I was like, yeah, what, in eighth grade? Yeah, exactly. You know, I played, I played baseball in the ninth grade. Yeah, I was a little shocked when all of a sudden, you know, he's coming out, calling people out in a hall brawl situation who likely, regardless of his size now, you know, are going to hit him.

And even if I went against him again in a hall brawl, my strategy would be, would be, would be completely different because I was playing him like War the World's One Theo where he came in straight up, standing straight up, and had a really hard time in that hall ball ball. Yeah, what did Rogan call him a lanky string of piss? Yeah, lanky string of piss. And, you know, in your head, you don't really know what 265 feels like until you feel what 265 feels like.

With Olympic level speed on top of it. With Olympic level speed. Let's be, you know. It's a train. Yeah. And, you know, he's a tall dude. So the physics of, like, trying to factor in where to hit him, you know, where to not catch a knee to the face or an orbital bone. Listen, you weren't winning that without losing something, whether it was brain cells, a bone, a ligament, a tooth or two, like something.

Like, that was a, listen. Open face helmet. The only way you can really describe that is if, like, you know, it's like a tight end against a cornerback when I won in a tunnel of love or an. Oklahoma drill. And that never happens. Like when does the coach say, hey, let me get my 165 pound cornerback and let him go against Grancowski. Belichick never did that. Yeah. Yeah. Mike Tyson ain't fighting Floyd Mayweather. I mean, you know what happens when Derek Henry gets that cornerback in the open field. I mean, exactly what it was. And for sure. And I always, whenever I talk about this, I have to remind people that Theo's stats,

speed, his combine numbers, much more resemble an NFL player than a normal person. So, you know, to me, I thought this was like one of those. rare things where you lose, but you look great, in my opinion, as a viewer. So a round of plot's tough. And you didn't fucking bag down either. Yeah, that's what I was going to say was like,

I don't know if I looked great, but the not backing down thing. Like, I don't think a lot of people give you credit for is how absolutely insane you actually are. I know it because I, like I said, I've said this multiple times, but when we were in,

uh, Thailand in that final, like I literally was like, bro, we're going to have a dead castmate. And you were, again, vomiting your guts out all night long and then ended up.

somehow getting a second wind and solve that puzzle, what, second or third? I think it was Ninja, you, Kara, than me. Or you and Kara might have been interchangeable. And then, you know, just we got like we got through the whole rest of the day, like, you know, unfazed. And arguably, I think if our ankles weren't chained, we win that. I think we make a comeback because our team was kind of getting a second wind. Oh, no, we made up a lot of time on them. We got like a three, I think they had a two minute head start on us on the puzzle.

So that means we made up three minutes in a four mile run, which is impressive in my opinion. So you're insane. You took that one to the chin, like literally, like head on and then continue to go. There's a lot of people that wouldn't have even got out there for round two. Yeah. I'm going to just. He would not have done it. Yeah.

He would about it. I think a lot of people up on the stage wouldn't have done it. I think even, you know, CT, you know, at the size he was, it would have been good, but I don't think he wants to even do those. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody over 35 wants to do Hallbro. Yeah. It's a young man sport. I'm going to just, I'm going to just chalk it up to my bananas backpack moment.

I'm going to just take it as something that no matter what I do from here on out on the challenge, that's always going to be thrown in my face. They all have that moment. And it's fine. I died on a mountain and cried. I don't care. Like, I was cramping. But I finished that. But what people say is you died in the final.

I'm like, wait a second. I didn't. I was cramping, but I still climbed my ass up a mountain. Absolutely. Got through it and got to the top of volcano the next day. So did I,

was I out of shape? 100% but did I die? No, I didn't get carted off. I didn't get put on a stretcher. And neither did you in either of those situations. So anyone that says that is just a TV or a computer screen hero. They don't think, imagine them.

People, anyone that talks shit, online about that what would that happen to them against Theo? Oh man. I mean, I don't even think I don't think people give us enough credit for the mental fortitude that it takes to be there.

And, you know, TJ's main thing is he hates quitters. And, you know, you're never going to not quit. Now, I watched you and I go through a final where, I mean, I don't know how many times you were asked to quit, but when I kind of got left behind

and I'm seeing stars and I don't even know where I am, face was green. They were, you know, along the way, they were asking me to quit the whole time. And I was sitting there saying no. And, but then I would ask for water. And they would say no. And they would say, we'll give you water as long as you quit. That's what they said to me on free agents. I was like, dude, I need something. They're like, okay, you can have a banana, you can have water, you can have Gatorade, but you got to quit. Yeah. And it's just, I don't think people realize that those words to any challenger that, where the show means something, right? Because we've had people quit. And I judge them for sure yeah in certain scenarios but you do not want to be standing in front of tj

and him being like so you're quitting and you be like yeah teach i'm quitting and he goes well all right that concludes the free preview of the zack nichols podcast so go to patreon and subscribe to see the rest of the shit that we talk go do it now