Brewsers #397- AJB

WEBVTT
1
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:23.660
Welcome to Bruisers, a podcast about beer, coffee, booze, and Bruisers.
2
00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:25.920
I am your host, Ray John, and today we talk
3
00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:29.519
to the man to see, AJB. We talk about getting
4
00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:33.340
into wrestling, how Kyle O'Reilly inspired him, and so much more.
5
00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:34.920
This is such a fun conversation.
6
00:00:35.090 --> 00:00:37.689
AJB is doing absolutely awesome things on the independent scene,
7
00:00:37.750 --> 00:00:39.210
and obviously you don't want to hear from me, you
8
00:00:39.229 --> 00:00:41.469
want to hear from him. So without further ado, here
9
00:00:41.570 --> 00:00:43.329
is the man to see, AJB.
10
00:00:58.119 --> 00:00:59.539
I would like to welcome to the show the man
11
00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:01.469
to see, AJB. How are you doing today?
12
00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:05.079
I'm good. I'm good. I'm feeling real, real good today.
13
00:01:08.250 --> 00:01:09.849
Well, for those listening, kind of paint us a word picture.
14
00:01:09.870 --> 00:01:10.989
Where are you at and what's going on around you?
15
00:01:12.590 --> 00:01:15.170
Like, what I'm doing now as far as working goes?
16
00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:18.269
Sure, yeah.
17
00:01:20.290 --> 00:01:25.969
I was frequent like EWA. I've gone down to SWA,
18
00:01:26.109 --> 00:01:30.859
Summit Wrestling Association, which is in Shadybrook. I do fight.
19
00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:34.420
I frequent EWA and fight. I'm a regular there.
20
00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:38.269
Okay, nice. Are you amateur fighting?
21
00:01:39.750 --> 00:01:42.049
Amateur?
22
00:01:42.069 --> 00:01:44.650
What's the fight? Is the fight a wrestling company?
23
00:01:44.769 --> 00:01:47.189
It's a wrestling company, yeah. It's a club pro.
24
00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:54.189
Gotcha. How do they do shows? I've definitely seen some
25
00:01:54.230 --> 00:01:58.349
companies that try to blur the MMA and then wrestling
26
00:01:58.370 --> 00:02:00.290
worlds as well. I was curious if that's what they
27
00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:00.530
were doing.
28
00:02:01.129 --> 00:02:02.829
I mean, they do the one, two, three fight kind
29
00:02:02.870 --> 00:02:03.890
of thing. Oh, nice.
30
00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:05.400
I like that. Okay.
31
00:02:05.420 --> 00:02:07.819
They do that. But it's more, it's just mainly just
32
00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.120
like wrestling, professional wrestling. That's mainly what it is. It's
33
00:02:11.139 --> 00:02:15.680
just they just call themselves Fight Club Pro. They're a
34
00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:16.539
pretty good crew though.
35
00:02:18.849 --> 00:02:20.189
Well, let's go all the way back in time. What
36
00:02:20.250 --> 00:02:21.629
is your earliest memory of pro wrestling?
37
00:02:22.310 --> 00:02:28.689
Earliest? Oh, that's digging memory banks there. My earliest memory
38
00:02:28.729 --> 00:02:39.599
was probably 2007, 2007. Cause I remember the Chris Jericho
39
00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:49.280
and HBK storyline. I remember that. Yeah. Like 2007, eight. Cause,
40
00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:52.599
and also cause like, I remember Jeff Hardy had won
41
00:02:53.430 --> 00:02:56.449
the WWE championship around that time. And, I remember I
42
00:02:56.449 --> 00:02:59.569
was watching his championship celebration on SmackDown at the end
43
00:02:59.629 --> 00:03:03.840
of that weekend, so that was kind of fun. That's
44
00:03:03.860 --> 00:03:06.960
my earliest, like 2007 was my earliest. It was right
45
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:12.500
after the Benoit stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah. It was right
46
00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:14.500
after that. I wasn't aware at the time, but now
47
00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:16.759
I look back at it now, it was right after
48
00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:21.169
the Benoit stuff. And they were kind of like, just
49
00:03:21.189 --> 00:03:24.110
when they were going into their PG era, I think. So,
50
00:03:25.330 --> 00:03:28.099
That's my earliest memory. I remember Six Man Tag was
51
00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:31.919
like Ray, Jeff, and some other ones. I can't remember
52
00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:33.539
the rest of his name. I know in the Six
53
00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:35.860
Man Tag, it was Jeff and Ray. I know that.
54
00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:42.580
But yeah, 2007 Deputy D.B. was kind of like my first,
55
00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:44.330
my earliest memories of it.
56
00:03:45.909 --> 00:03:48.330
What was your first live show?
57
00:03:49.409 --> 00:03:51.889

58
00:03:51.909 --> 00:03:54.030

59
00:03:54.050 --> 00:03:58.030

60
00:03:58.250 --> 00:04:00.689

61
00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:05.449

62
00:04:05.490 --> 00:04:10.030

63
00:04:10.069 --> 00:04:11.599

64
00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:13.759

65
00:04:13.819 --> 00:04:21.420
my first live professional wrestling show ever
66
00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:25.000
was the EWA, not EWA, was the AEW show. And
67
00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:28.000
then my first independent wrestling show live when I went
68
00:04:28.019 --> 00:04:28.959
to EWA.
69
00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:31.500
Very big contrast.
70
00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.250
Yeah, it was very, yeah, yeah. Very big.
71
00:04:36.769 --> 00:04:38.689
What was, I mean, considering you've been watching it for.
72
00:04:38.709 --> 00:04:40.889
That many years, what was it like actually going to
73
00:04:41.069 --> 00:04:45.579
your first live show? Um, so the pyro was hotter
74
00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:48.560
than I thought it would be. Yeah. The pyro, because
75
00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:51.360
I remember it was Chris Jericho's engine and his, you know,
76
00:04:51.379 --> 00:04:54.259
his flames go up and I was always almost in
77
00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:55.899
like the nosebleeds kind of, and I could feel heat
78
00:04:55.939 --> 00:05:01.779
and all that. That's hot. Very hot. Um, and then
79
00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:04.560
something I think is always funny when I think about
80
00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:07.259
that show is I was going to the bathroom and
81
00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:11.129
I walked by Colton Gunn and I was like, oh, oh,
82
00:05:11.189 --> 00:05:13.009
it was a Colton and Austin Gunn and I walked
83
00:05:13.069 --> 00:05:15.240
by them And I didn't realize until after I walked
84
00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:17.339
by them. I was like, that was the guns.
85
00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:19.480
They are huge in person.
86
00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:23.149
Yeah, in person they're gigantic. Yeah.
87
00:05:23.449 --> 00:05:26.730
Because my buddy is a huge Billy Gunn fan. So
88
00:05:26.790 --> 00:05:29.829
shout out to Eric. So we've gone to multiple wrestling
89
00:05:29.850 --> 00:05:32.470
conventions and we always go see Billy Gunn. I think
90
00:05:32.509 --> 00:05:34.339
it was the all-in one. So it must have been
91
00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:37.079
the first StarCast. And we went to go see Billy
92
00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.060
Gunn and he had his sons with him. And I
93
00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:40.980
was like, damn, these motherfuckers are big.
94
00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:44.740
They are. I was like, I walked by, I was like, oh.
95
00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:47.139
Because he looks so short, because Austin looks so short
96
00:05:47.220 --> 00:05:52.060
on TV. But like, walking by him, he was like,
97
00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:57.259
had to be, he looks like he's like 5'8 on TV,
98
00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:59.100
but he had to be at least like 6' when
99
00:05:59.120 --> 00:05:59.899
I saw him in person.
100
00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:02.660
Yeah, it doesn't help that his dad is gigantic too.
101
00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:07.629
No. I like their entrance though. Even though I haven't
102
00:06:07.649 --> 00:06:09.209
seen them on AEW TV in a while, I like
103
00:06:09.230 --> 00:06:09.629
their entrance.
104
00:06:10.540 --> 00:06:15.240
Yeah, I think they've been more collision, haven't they? Well, yeah,
105
00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:18.800
they had the thing with Jay White and everybody. For
106
00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:20.180
some reason, I feel like I haven't seen them in
107
00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:20.600
a while either.
108
00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:22.939
Yeah, I haven't seen them in a while. I just
109
00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.040
remember seeing a clip of their entrance a while back,
110
00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:27.560
and I was like, that was tough.
111
00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:28.490
It is pretty dope.
112
00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:34.870
Yeah, it was. But yeah, that was my first experience
113
00:06:34.889 --> 00:06:39.240
of a live show. It was... I'm grateful it got
114
00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.079
to be like AEW. Not that the Indies are bad.
115
00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:45.639
It's not bad. I just was grateful that it was
116
00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:51.170
like a produced and like live show instead of like
117
00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.949
an Indie show where it's like things change all the time.
118
00:06:54.310 --> 00:06:57.189
Especially being, like I said, being a wrestler myself and
119
00:06:57.209 --> 00:07:01.250
being backstage and knowing how matches and stuff change like
120
00:07:01.449 --> 00:07:04.810
last minute. So I was grateful that it was actually
121
00:07:04.829 --> 00:07:07.829
a produced professional show and not like an Indie show.
122
00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:13.139
Indie shows can go quite a long time and then
123
00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:15.939
yeah the produced shows are pretty much like obviously with
124
00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:18.620
TV time they're done when they're done and maybe they'll
125
00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:20.189
do a little bit of dark matches but for the
126
00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:24.269
most part you're not there that much later no because.
127
00:07:24.089 --> 00:07:30.449
Like what I paid for was Dynamite, Dark and Collision
128
00:07:30.550 --> 00:07:35.009
but I didn't no Rampage it was Dynamite, Dark and
129
00:07:35.110 --> 00:07:40.740
Rampage but I only stayed for Dark and Dynamite. I
130
00:07:40.899 --> 00:07:45.740
loved it before Rampage, but it was nice seeing AEW, Dark,
131
00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:49.100
and Dynamite in the same night. It was pretty cool.
132
00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:53.459
It is so bonkers to me how many matches they're
133
00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:57.199
able to fit in within obviously the pay-per-views, which also
134
00:07:57.220 --> 00:08:00.170
go very long. I love AEW and I love Tony,
135
00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:02.259
what he's doing, but I also think those pay-per-views are
136
00:08:02.290 --> 00:08:04.790
very long and also put them on a Saturday. But
137
00:08:05.860 --> 00:08:08.420
I think that what they, like the amount of matches
138
00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:10.959
they're able to cram in is crazy to me.
139
00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:13.399
It's impressive. I'm not going to lie to you. Even
140
00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:17.290
though it runs long, it's impressive. Yeah. Even though I
141
00:08:17.310 --> 00:08:19.670
don't think they should have like 12 million tags on
142
00:08:21.310 --> 00:08:22.889
a zero hour show.
143
00:08:23.509 --> 00:08:25.829
I mean, you know, you're getting everybody in there. Everybody
144
00:08:25.850 --> 00:08:28.250
gets the, you know, the crowd gets a little bit
145
00:08:28.269 --> 00:08:30.480
of everything. You get fun little moments. I get it.
146
00:08:30.589 --> 00:08:32.350
But yeah, I understand at the same time. It's like,
147
00:08:32.389 --> 00:08:33.889
wait a minute. Why can't we just do singles or
148
00:08:33.909 --> 00:08:34.269
tags here?
149
00:08:34.710 --> 00:08:37.370
Yeah, because being in multi-man matches, it gets chaotic. Being
150
00:08:37.429 --> 00:08:40.289
in some myself, it gets chaotic. I couldn't imagine being
151
00:08:40.370 --> 00:08:44.629
in a 12-man tag. But to all the people that
152
00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:48.259
are in those matches, more power to you. Y'all will
153
00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:54.659
do a way.
154
00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:54.559
Better job than me. When did you decide this is
155
00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:56.139
what you wanted to do, was get into pro wrestling?
156
00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.559
It was actually the year before that. It was the
157
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.539
year before that show that I was talking to my
158
00:09:03.580 --> 00:09:07.929
then partner at the time. And I was like, I
159
00:09:07.970 --> 00:09:09.750
have to like stop saying it and I'm going to
160
00:09:09.789 --> 00:09:12.940
do it and actually just go do it. So it
161
00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.700
got to, I think this was like, I was telling
162
00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:23.100
her this in like May or June. And then fast
163
00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:25.029
forward like a year later, I actually like got the
164
00:09:25.049 --> 00:09:28.190
guts to call the promoter of the wrestling company that
165
00:09:28.210 --> 00:09:31.350
I work for now or do shows with now. And
166
00:09:31.370 --> 00:09:32.850
I just called him, and I was like, hey, I'm
167
00:09:32.870 --> 00:09:36.029
kind of interested in coming down. And this is August, like, 2022,
168
00:09:36.009 --> 00:09:38.750
so this is a little bit after the AEW show.
169
00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:40.840
And I called him, and I was just like, hey,
170
00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:43.620
I kind of want to come down and, like, try
171
00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:46.799
it out and, you know, be a wrestler or whatever.
172
00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:48.200
And he was like, cool. He was like, come down.
173
00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:49.960
This and this date. It was like a Thursday. He said,
174
00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.429
come down. And I paid the money, come down, signed
175
00:09:54.450 --> 00:09:56.730
a little waiver, and then y'all get to go. I said, cool.
176
00:09:56.929 --> 00:09:59.970
And I did it, and I went to my friend's.
177
00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:03.940
training that, that Thursday, like you said, and I was
178
00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:07.220
like a duck to water. It was in the ring.
179
00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.559
And so it didn't feel like, Oh, I don't know
180
00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:11.230
what I'm doing. I just kind of like, I'm not
181
00:10:11.250 --> 00:10:12.889
gonna say I knew what I was doing, but it's like,
182
00:10:12.909 --> 00:10:15.250
it just felt like natural. It just felt like I
183
00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:17.090
could just go ahead and just get in there and
184
00:10:17.110 --> 00:10:20.009
do whatever, boom, whatever. get it done it wasn't like
185
00:10:20.029 --> 00:10:22.799
i had to it wasn't like i was feeling like
186
00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:25.500
lost it was like i felt right at home that
187
00:10:25.539 --> 00:10:26.139
makes sense.
188
00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:29.080
Right we've been watching for so many years that it
189
00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:30.779
was like you said it was kind of a duct
190
00:10:30.820 --> 00:10:33.039
of water because you've been watching for so long and
191
00:10:33.059 --> 00:10:35.759
i imagine you re-watched so many different things and once
192
00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:38.580
you really kind of start watching it live is one
193
00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:40.620
thing and then going back and watching you like kind
194
00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:42.700
of pinpointing like okay why what are they doing here
195
00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:44.899
especially if you do like maybe look at it multi-man
196
00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:47.059
matches you'd be like okay yeah How did they get
197
00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:49.460
to the outside? And what's the story that they're telling here?
198
00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:51.259
And how did this person decide to come in here?
199
00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.279
Or little things like that. And then especially once you
200
00:10:54.299 --> 00:10:57.799
get in the wrestling business, you pick it apart even further. Oh, yeah.
201
00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:02.870
Because now I can't watch matches as a fan. I
202
00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:04.909
can't do it because I watch it just to pick
203
00:11:04.970 --> 00:11:06.970
up stuff to be like, OK, I can do this
204
00:11:08.250 --> 00:11:11.980
from here. I can do this. It's never, because before I,
205
00:11:12.470 --> 00:11:14.379
like we were just talking, before I got into it,
206
00:11:14.389 --> 00:11:16.210
I'm watching it as a fan. I'm like, oh, man,
207
00:11:16.269 --> 00:11:17.870
that shit would be so cool if I actually was
208
00:11:17.909 --> 00:11:19.590
to do it. But now that I'm actually doing it,
209
00:11:19.649 --> 00:11:22.909
I can't look at it from that perspective anymore. And
210
00:11:24.230 --> 00:11:25.909
I was like, but also one thing when I got
211
00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:28.039
to training, my first training day, I was really happy
212
00:11:28.059 --> 00:11:30.799
with myself. I actually got in the ring correctly. And
213
00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:32.360
I didn't have to learn how to get in.
214
00:11:32.940 --> 00:11:33.340
Yeah.
215
00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:37.850
I did the one foot over and the other... I
216
00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:39.889
was like, okay, cool. I got in correctly. I didn't
217
00:11:39.909 --> 00:11:41.970
look like an idiot getting in. Yeah. Yeah, good.
218
00:11:42.090 --> 00:11:43.509
Yeah, my foot didn't trip up or.
219
00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:44.490
No, yeah.
220
00:11:46.629 --> 00:11:48.500
Well, once you got in and obviously you're learning the
221
00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:51.899
moves and you're starting to actually eventually have your own matches,
222
00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:54.080
who were some people you were kind of looking at
223
00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:56.019
and you're like, I like the way they do this
224
00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:58.200
and I'm going to kind of do my little take
225
00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:00.039
on this or... Yeah, how did the moveset kind of
226
00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:00.460
come together?
227
00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:03.039
See, I'm actually happy you asked this question because I've been...
228
00:12:03.139 --> 00:12:07.659
I always like talking about this when people ask me. So,
229
00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:10.720
I was a big Kyle O'Reilly fan, and I'm not
230
00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:13.779
talking about his Undisputed stuff. I'm talking about Ring of Honor.
231
00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:14.870
Oh, yeah.
232
00:12:15.350 --> 00:12:18.289
Same. All that stuff.
233
00:12:18.330 --> 00:12:18.990
Red Dragon is amazing.
234
00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:21.909
Yeah, I was a big Kyle O'Reilly fan. Fun fact
235
00:12:21.929 --> 00:12:24.409
about Red Dragon, Bobby Fish actually reposted me on his
236
00:12:24.429 --> 00:12:26.379
story one day, and I was really happy about it.
237
00:12:27.330 --> 00:12:29.769
That's awesome. It was me doing an ankle lock to
238
00:12:29.789 --> 00:12:32.190
somebody I was in a match with, and he reposted it.
239
00:12:32.250 --> 00:12:33.210
I still have it on my phone. I look at
240
00:12:33.230 --> 00:12:36.809
it every now and then. I'm like, damn, one half
241
00:12:36.830 --> 00:12:40.129
of Red Dragon noticed me. That's crazy. But like I
242
00:12:40.149 --> 00:12:44.669
was saying, Kylo Ren is a big, big, big reason
243
00:12:45.389 --> 00:12:46.669
why I wrestle the way I do now. I don't
244
00:12:46.690 --> 00:12:48.649
know if you've seen any of my stuff, if you've
245
00:12:48.669 --> 00:12:53.389
looked at my profile before. He's a very big inspiration
246
00:12:53.429 --> 00:12:54.809
to why I do a lot of stuff I do now.
247
00:12:54.830 --> 00:12:59.080
Because he is actually the person that made me interested
248
00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:02.000
in training Jiu-Jitsu. And I trained Jiu-Jitsu for six months.
249
00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:04.100
I want to do it more. This is, you know,
250
00:13:04.570 --> 00:13:06.929
wrestling and everything else kind of ate up my time
251
00:13:07.330 --> 00:13:13.649
but he's the reason why i started training jiu-jitsu and
252
00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:18.200
he is the reason why i wear what i wear
253
00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:20.149
it to because i wasn't going to wear trunks initially
254
00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:23.379
but i saw him because i was like i didn't
255
00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:25.220
think i could pull it off but i saw him
256
00:13:25.259 --> 00:13:27.460
and i was like let me just try it think
257
00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:32.269
about it i made a gear design guided me the
258
00:13:32.529 --> 00:13:34.330
trunks came to my house. I put them on and
259
00:13:34.350 --> 00:13:37.149
I was like, actually, this is actually not that bad.
260
00:13:37.350 --> 00:13:40.789
I thought I would look like weird. Like I thought,
261
00:13:41.190 --> 00:13:42.570
cause for a second, I thought my legs were like
262
00:13:42.610 --> 00:13:44.490
skinny and I would have like chicken legs. No, now
263
00:13:44.509 --> 00:13:48.100
that I see myself and like match for it and stuff,
264
00:13:48.149 --> 00:13:51.899
I'm like, damn, I actually look pretty good. So I
265
00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.840
was like, cause initially it was supposed to be like
266
00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:56.240
a one-off thing. I was supposed to just wear, I
267
00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:57.500
was going to wear it like once to see if
268
00:13:57.559 --> 00:13:59.960
I liked it. And then probably never wear it again. Right.
269
00:14:00.059 --> 00:14:01.730
Wear it, Liked it.
270
00:14:01.850 --> 00:14:02.470
And I'm like, okay.
271
00:14:03.009 --> 00:14:07.529
Trunks are kind of like my thing. And the reason
272
00:14:07.549 --> 00:14:09.730
why I don't wear knee pads is kind of another
273
00:14:09.769 --> 00:14:11.850
inspiration I have is Jonathan Gresham. It's kind of why
274
00:14:11.909 --> 00:14:15.769
I don't wear knee pads. Okay. Because I saw him
275
00:14:15.929 --> 00:14:17.950
once and I was like, oh, he's short like I am.
276
00:14:18.490 --> 00:14:21.629
And he looks cool without knee pads. So I would
277
00:14:21.669 --> 00:14:25.250
try it. It was him and Gunther, actually. I like that.
278
00:14:25.330 --> 00:14:27.750
I got the idea from him. And I just did it.
279
00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:31.409
And all of my wrestling buddies look at me, they're like,
280
00:14:31.450 --> 00:14:33.070
how do you wrestle with, like, no knee pads? I'm like,
281
00:14:33.110 --> 00:14:37.049
I don't know. I mean, my moveset doesn't really involve
282
00:14:37.070 --> 00:14:38.639
anything with knees, so I don't really have to use
283
00:14:38.659 --> 00:14:42.659
my knees that much. But, I mean, and also, I
284
00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:43.720
just thought it was fucking cool.
285
00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.580
I mean, you could involve knees, and then they'd be
286
00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:49.240
more brutal, but you don't do it on a regular basis. No,
287
00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:50.690
so I don't do it to.
288
00:14:50.570 --> 00:14:54.230
Justify wearing knee pads. So that's my thought process. I
289
00:14:54.269 --> 00:14:57.669
don't do it. leg and knee stuff enough to justify
290
00:14:57.710 --> 00:14:59.029
wearing knee pads because I'm not coming in on my
291
00:14:59.049 --> 00:15:01.450
knees all the time. So I don't really need to
292
00:15:01.490 --> 00:15:06.429
wear them. But biggest inspiration for me is Kyle O'Reilly.
293
00:15:06.909 --> 00:15:11.190
I watch a lot of Tyler Bate, too. Okay. John
294
00:15:11.210 --> 00:15:17.220
the Gresham, obviously. And then someone that I did not
295
00:15:17.259 --> 00:15:21.700
necessarily think I would like as much, Lee Moriarty, too.
296
00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:23.200
Oh, he's phenomenal.
297
00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:27.519
Yeah, I watched his pure championship matches from time to time.
298
00:15:28.179 --> 00:15:30.820
The one with him and Will Uda, I watched that one.
299
00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:31.500
That was great.
300
00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:37.110
Nigel was great. Nigel was great too, yeah. I kind
301
00:15:37.129 --> 00:15:38.710
of want to do that pin he did to Will
302
00:15:38.789 --> 00:15:40.549
Uda in a match at some point, but it would
303
00:15:40.570 --> 00:15:45.490
have to be a pure rules match. I'm going to
304
00:15:45.529 --> 00:15:47.490
do that one day. I don't know when, but I'm
305
00:15:47.509 --> 00:15:54.169
going to do that. That... And I just watched a
306
00:15:54.190 --> 00:15:55.769
lot of his independent stuff, too. I watched a lot
307
00:15:55.789 --> 00:16:02.990
of his stuff with Ashae. He faced Darius, not Darius Carter,
308
00:16:03.009 --> 00:16:06.559
but the other Carter, the other one, the last name Carter.
309
00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:08.440
I can't remember his name right now. But he's the
310
00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:11.980
one that owns and promotes Ashae, but I can't remember
311
00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.940
his name right now. But I watched that one. And
312
00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:21.250
I also watched his other, his match with Jonathan Gresham. Mm-hmm.
313
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:23.220
So that was pretty good, too. I actually got to
314
00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:24.899
meet Jonathan Gresham at a Power Pro Lucha show, which
315
00:16:24.940 --> 00:16:25.440
was kind of nice.
316
00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:27.110
Is he nice?
317
00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:29.549
Yeah, he's a nice guy. He's a very nice guy.
318
00:16:30.090 --> 00:16:32.570
I met him and Orange Cassidy on the same night.
319
00:16:33.070 --> 00:16:33.629
Oh, very nice.
320
00:16:34.350 --> 00:16:36.730
Yeah, I just walked out of the locker room and
321
00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:38.429
I just see Orange Cassidy. I said, Orange Cassidy. He said,
322
00:16:38.450 --> 00:16:42.000
what's up, dude? I'm like, oh. It wasn't like, oh.
323
00:16:42.100 --> 00:16:43.580
He didn't like big league me. He was like, oh,
324
00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:43.980
what's up, dude?
325
00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:45.299
I was like, oh, okay.
326
00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:46.419
That's cool.
327
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:48.720
He doesn't seem like a big leaguer.
328
00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:51.659
But he's not. Yeah.
329
00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:53.200
No, he doesn't seem like one.
330
00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:55.639
Oh, he doesn't seem like one? Yeah, he's not. He's
331
00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:56.480
not a big leaguer.
332
00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.179
Plus, any guy who ever wrestled under an ant hood,
333
00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:01.580
I feel like he's probably not going to be a
334
00:17:01.580 --> 00:17:02.360
big leaguer to anybody.
335
00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:05.319
Yeah. And I talked to Drew Gulak from time to
336
00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:11.940
time about Orange Cassidy, because they were all in Chikara together.
337
00:17:13.539 --> 00:17:15.819
And that's also surreal for me, too. I don't mean
338
00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:18.019
to go off subject, but that was also surreal, being
339
00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:20.700
training under Drew Gulak, and I know him on a
340
00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:25.589
personal level now, so that's kind of cool. But yeah,
341
00:17:25.690 --> 00:17:31.309
inspiration-wise is Lee, Don, Kyle, Tyler from those parts.
342
00:17:33.029 --> 00:17:34.670
Do you watch much Zack Sabre Jr.
343
00:17:35.730 --> 00:17:37.519
I watch a little bit of Zack Sabre Jr. I
344
00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:41.779
should watch more, but I don't know why. But I have.
345
00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:46.769
I watched his Cruiserweight Classic matches. I've watched those. And
346
00:17:46.809 --> 00:17:53.779
I watched... His match with... Who am I thinking of?
347
00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:59.000
I watched his match with... His New Japan match with,
348
00:17:59.059 --> 00:18:03.619
I think... Was it Matt Riddle? Or was it? Yeah. Yeah, Matt. Yeah.
349
00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:06.039
I watched that one too. That was a good watch.
350
00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:08.519
Very good watch.
351
00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:13.519
Anything with ZSJ and obviously Jonathan Grisham are amazing. Him
352
00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:18.119
and Daniel Bryan or Bryan Danielson. And then, yeah, the
353
00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:18.690
one with him and.
354
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:19.039
Yeah.
355
00:18:19.710 --> 00:18:21.869
Him and Nigel going back and forth in Wembley was
356
00:18:21.950 --> 00:18:23.170
one of my favorite things on the planet.
357
00:18:23.710 --> 00:18:24.210
Oh, yeah, yeah.
358
00:18:24.589 --> 00:18:26.619
It wasn't an actual match between those two, but it didn't.
359
00:18:26.539 --> 00:18:31.420
Have to be. Yeah. And Bryan Danielson, see, I almost
360
00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.319
forgot about him. Bryan Danielson, I watched a lot of
361
00:18:34.339 --> 00:18:37.539
his stuff. I watched his match with Tyler Black. Yeah.
362
00:18:37.819 --> 00:18:43.789
I watched that one. His match with Morishima, that one
363
00:18:43.809 --> 00:18:45.410
was bad. Mm-hmm. Ugh.
364
00:18:46.269 --> 00:18:48.789
The ones with him and Nigel are sometimes gross because
365
00:18:48.829 --> 00:18:49.779
they'll headbutt the post.
366
00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:53.240
I'm like, it's not okay. I don't know.
367
00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:55.859
Early 2000s were a different era.
368
00:18:56.619 --> 00:19:00.039
I don't know. I low-key kind of wish I was
369
00:19:00.099 --> 00:19:01.539
a wrestler back in that time because I would have
370
00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:02.420
had a lot of fun.
371
00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:04.880
I mean, you can still have fun now.
372
00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:06.119
Yeah, I can.
373
00:19:06.140 --> 00:19:07.799
There's way more promotions now, too.
374
00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:13.809
Yeah, it's also true, too. I just like that little microcosm.
375
00:19:14.579 --> 00:19:15.660
of Ring of Honor at the time.
376
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.539
That was just a lot.
377
00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:20.400
And also, I just recently watched the Necro Butcher and
378
00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:21.819
some of the Joe match. Oh, yeah.
379
00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.680
I had no idea about this before the Dark Side
380
00:19:24.700 --> 00:19:27.539
of the Ring one. Yeah. I was like, why have
381
00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:28.700
I never heard about this match?
382
00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:32.859
I watched it. Brutal. Brutal. Very brutal.
383
00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:36.920
Yeah, I saw a... I remember seeing Necro Butcher live,
384
00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:39.859
and I think it was him and Jimmy Jacobs did
385
00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:43.250
a superplexed to the floor. And I was like, but
386
00:19:43.289 --> 00:19:46.029
there was no table, no nothing. It was just two
387
00:19:46.049 --> 00:19:48.690
of them. Why are we doing this? I don't know.
388
00:19:49.250 --> 00:19:54.650
I can watch hardcore and deathmatch wrestling, but would I
389
00:19:54.730 --> 00:19:57.559
participate in it personally as a wrestler myself? Probably not.
390
00:19:58.319 --> 00:19:58.980
I mean, you could do it.
391
00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:00.559
Once just to kind of check it off your bucket list.
392
00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:03.859
Yeah, I mean, yeah. I'd probably participate in it once.
393
00:20:04.299 --> 00:20:06.920
I mean, even Matt Cardone has done it. Yeah, I know. Yeah.
394
00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:10.119
And that's the thing. I'm a wrestler, so... I feel
395
00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.339
like I have to do at least like once just
396
00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:16.430
to say I did it. But would I do it regularly? No.
397
00:20:16.650 --> 00:20:19.170
Yeah, we were not saying regularly, but once you just
398
00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:19.980
got to kind of get out of the way.
399
00:20:20.670 --> 00:20:20.869
Yeah.
400
00:20:22.329 --> 00:20:25.289
Well, so, I mean, you kind of mentioned that obviously
401
00:20:25.569 --> 00:20:27.910
Gulak has been somebody who's a veteran that you kind
402
00:20:27.990 --> 00:20:29.859
of has helped you out along the way, but who
403
00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:31.799
are some other veterans that have helped you out along
404
00:20:31.819 --> 00:20:32.039
the way?
405
00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:38.480
Um, Elon U. He's one of my favorites. He's a
406
00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.339
pretty good guy, too. He actually is the one that
407
00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:44.220
invited me to fight, so that's how I became a
408
00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.789
regular there. He invited me down there, and I came down. Yeah,
409
00:20:49.230 --> 00:20:56.690
I talk regularly with Eel. What's his name? Travis Huckabee
410
00:20:56.769 --> 00:21:00.970
is another one. Travis Huckabee. I don't know if you
411
00:21:01.029 --> 00:21:03.319
know who he is, but old man, young boy, he's
412
00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:06.019
another one of the trainers. I check in with him
413
00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:09.140
from time to time. I'm giving them all shout outs
414
00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:13.029
on this podcast. So bring them on. Bring them on
415
00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:15.730
to this podcast. They're pretty good people to listen to.
416
00:21:17.150 --> 00:21:17.710
You're all welcome.
417
00:21:18.470 --> 00:21:24.890
Yeah. And then my good, good friend Chaz from Peer Ignorance.
418
00:21:24.970 --> 00:21:28.130
He is also somebody that's helped me out a lot.
419
00:21:31.299 --> 00:21:35.099
I don't know. It's the way that. They've taken me
420
00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:37.319
under their wing. I really do appreciate it because they
421
00:21:37.339 --> 00:21:41.180
didn't have to. They did. They gave me a lot
422
00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:44.000
of pointers and tips and stuff to help me out.
423
00:21:44.829 --> 00:21:50.069
Eel has definitely challenged me to think outside the box
424
00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:55.109
when it comes to gimmicks and wrestling. He's a theater guy.
425
00:21:55.309 --> 00:21:58.650
He did theater, but he also wrestles too. He uses
426
00:21:58.670 --> 00:22:04.009
a lot of his theater experience in his wrestling to to,
427
00:22:06.029 --> 00:22:10.670
what's the word I'm looking for, to perpetuate a lot
428
00:22:10.710 --> 00:22:13.740
of like the good things about wrestling. So he's helped
429
00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:17.700
me out a lot. Like I said, old man, young boy,
430
00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:19.599
he's helped me out a lot. He was recently on
431
00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:21.579
the Purdue show. Well, that's cool. I'm talking about where
432
00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:28.920
he at. That's on Produce. Him, and then, like I said, Chaz,
433
00:22:32.210 --> 00:22:33.829
They gave me a lot of notes, a lot of
434
00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:39.390
stuff just to pay attention to, like crowd reaction and
435
00:22:39.509 --> 00:22:44.430
where to plant a move here, put a move there, pacing,
436
00:22:44.809 --> 00:22:46.119
all that stuff.
437
00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:50.220
Yeah, letting stuff breathe and letting the crowd build themselves
438
00:22:50.279 --> 00:22:50.660
back up.
439
00:22:50.680 --> 00:22:53.859
Yeah, instead of just sitting there going through move, move, move, move, move,
440
00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:57.359
it's just do a move, then do one, then wait
441
00:22:57.480 --> 00:22:59.599
a little bit, do one, and then, you know, like that.
442
00:22:59.619 --> 00:23:02.900
So I'm definitely trying to keep that in mind when
443
00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:04.460
I go out there and I wrestle, I try to
444
00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:08.849
make sure that I'm not like speeding through stuff or, or,
445
00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:11.289
or trying to, you know, get from spot to spot
446
00:23:11.309 --> 00:23:17.130
without letting the crowd digest what just happened. Um, so that's,
447
00:23:17.170 --> 00:23:23.109
that's how they've definitely helped me out. Um, and just, just,
448
00:23:24.349 --> 00:23:28.089
they've also helped me out with a little networking. So yeah,
449
00:23:28.230 --> 00:23:32.880
that can never be more difficult. Uh, That's a very
450
00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:35.240
big one. So that's also another way to help me out.
451
00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:41.109
This pushing me to network, pushing me to pace myself
452
00:23:41.210 --> 00:23:45.250
and not go too fast or things like that. So
453
00:23:46.329 --> 00:23:50.369
that's another way to help me out. Yeah.
454
00:23:50.450 --> 00:23:53.990
You probably think everything's going so fast, but in actual reality,
455
00:23:54.049 --> 00:23:55.069
it's going so slow.
456
00:23:55.630 --> 00:23:55.869
Yeah.
457
00:23:56.529 --> 00:23:58.799
But we have to take the time. actually let them
458
00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.400
process it and then, you know, work through the matches
459
00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:03.680
as you need. Don't just, like you said, don't go boom, boom,
460
00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:05.769
boom all the way through the match. Cause nobody can
461
00:24:05.809 --> 00:24:08.250
digest it. And it's not, you know, there's no reality
462
00:24:08.269 --> 00:24:10.470
to it, especially with what you're doing. Like the story
463
00:24:10.509 --> 00:24:13.450
you're telling you're wanting to be an actual wrestler as
464
00:24:13.529 --> 00:24:16.809
opposed to, you know, gif, gif, gif, high spot, high spot,
465
00:24:16.829 --> 00:24:17.170
high spot.
466
00:24:17.390 --> 00:24:18.910
Yeah. I don't really chase high spots. I don't really
467
00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:21.230
do that. I mean, cause like one, I mean, I'm athletic,
468
00:24:21.289 --> 00:24:24.599
but like, I'm not nearly as athletic as like ricochet.
469
00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:28.849
I can't do none of that stuff. Um, So I
470
00:24:28.869 --> 00:24:34.210
try to tell my stories through struggle. Yes. Because Drew
471
00:24:34.230 --> 00:24:36.819
says this all the time. He's like, if no one
472
00:24:36.859 --> 00:24:40.279
can see what you're doing, they can't really react to
473
00:24:40.339 --> 00:24:43.420
it the way you want them to. They can't see it.
474
00:24:44.019 --> 00:24:47.339
So I try to slow myself down and make sure
475
00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:50.119
I'm not going too fast. Since I've been in wrestling,
476
00:24:50.140 --> 00:24:53.940
I've heard this so many fucking times. If you think
477
00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:59.500
you're going too fast, slow down. Yep. Slow down. So
478
00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:02.420
I've heard that. I've always kept it in the back
479
00:25:02.440 --> 00:25:04.019
of my head when I'm out there wrestling or whatever,
480
00:25:04.339 --> 00:25:06.869
that if I'm going too fast or I feel like
481
00:25:06.890 --> 00:25:10.789
I'm going too slow, slow down. And if I still
482
00:25:10.809 --> 00:25:13.710
think I'm going too slow, slow down because they're not
483
00:25:13.730 --> 00:25:14.710
going to be able to see what you're doing. If
484
00:25:14.730 --> 00:25:16.759
you move, move, move, move, move.
485
00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:19.559
So no, that makes sense.
486
00:25:19.940 --> 00:25:20.259
Yeah.
487
00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:22.579
Again, you're, you're taking them on that journey. You're taking
488
00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:24.500
them like it's, a lot of them haven't seen you
489
00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:27.799
at all, ever. So they might be there to see
490
00:25:27.819 --> 00:25:29.480
the other person or they've never seen either one of you.
491
00:25:29.880 --> 00:25:31.940
So you've got to help take them along and who
492
00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:35.000
you are, how you're working in the ring and everything
493
00:25:35.019 --> 00:25:35.319
like that.
494
00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:40.759
Yeah, definitely. Because I am getting more comfortable with like
495
00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:45.349
crowd reaction and stuff because sometimes they'll pop for something
496
00:25:45.369 --> 00:25:48.630
I'm doing and I'm like, oh, okay. That happened. I
497
00:25:49.769 --> 00:25:53.339
remember one time I was wrestling at a not the
498
00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:56.339
most recent EWA show, but probably the one before that.
499
00:25:57.339 --> 00:26:02.579
And I was, I was doing a elbow to the knee, right?
500
00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:04.029
So I was doing like, you know, where you just
501
00:26:04.119 --> 00:26:06.750
drop down elbow to the knee. And I put my
502
00:26:06.789 --> 00:26:08.390
hand up and I say it one more time. And
503
00:26:08.490 --> 00:26:11.730
the whole crowd was like, one more time, one more time.
504
00:26:12.309 --> 00:26:14.529
I was like, oh, that's, that's cool. I've never had
505
00:26:14.549 --> 00:26:15.809
that happen to me before. So that was, that was,
506
00:26:15.829 --> 00:26:16.130
that was cool.
507
00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:20.279
Yeah, again, that's the thing is trying new things. Again,
508
00:26:21.420 --> 00:26:23.500
everything's not going to stick. So, but you've got to
509
00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:26.380
start figuring out what does and doesn't work. And especially
510
00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:28.299
once you start going to different places, you find out
511
00:26:28.339 --> 00:26:30.920
what does and doesn't work because they're different crowds. Because
512
00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:32.880
if it were like, maybe the same thing will work
513
00:26:32.900 --> 00:26:35.940
with every crowd, maybe. But for the most part, what's
514
00:26:35.980 --> 00:26:37.549
going to work here is going to work here. But
515
00:26:37.569 --> 00:26:39.910
what works over here isn't going to work in the
516
00:26:39.930 --> 00:26:40.309
first place.
517
00:26:40.730 --> 00:26:42.490
Yeah, it kind of forces you to like try, like
518
00:26:42.509 --> 00:26:45.190
you say, try different things. Yeah. Just forces you to
519
00:26:45.230 --> 00:26:45.490
do that.
520
00:26:47.140 --> 00:26:48.400
Yeah, you're basically an improv comic.
521
00:26:49.099 --> 00:26:50.599
Pretty much. Yeah.
522
00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:56.450
But with action, obviously. Well, so show days can.
523
00:26:56.329 --> 00:26:56.950
Be long days.
524
00:26:56.990 --> 00:26:58.710
What are some standards you normally have in your bag?
525
00:27:00.069 --> 00:27:02.990
Standards that I usually have? I make sure I have
526
00:27:03.529 --> 00:27:05.869
all my gear. I make sure, because you know, I'm kidding.
527
00:27:05.930 --> 00:27:10.210
I'm only without the gear. But the main thing I
528
00:27:10.230 --> 00:27:12.990
kind of make sure I have in my gear bag
529
00:27:13.069 --> 00:27:16.470
is finger tape and wrist tape because, you know, there's
530
00:27:16.490 --> 00:27:18.069
always going to be someone who doesn't have it and
531
00:27:18.089 --> 00:27:21.930
that needs it. And then it's always good to have
532
00:27:21.970 --> 00:27:26.019
this extra just in case, you know, you might need
533
00:27:26.059 --> 00:27:28.240
it for something. It might not even be for a rest.
534
00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:29.680
I mean, it might be because somebody got injured. You
535
00:27:29.700 --> 00:27:31.380
just need to take them up real quick. Right, right.
536
00:27:31.859 --> 00:27:36.759
So it's kind of good to have that deodorant. Definitely
537
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:39.680
make sure I have that in there because even if
538
00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:42.180
I don't sweat that much, I still like put some on.
539
00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:44.769
I put some on before. I go out, I put
540
00:27:44.789 --> 00:27:49.250
someone after just to make sure I'm not reeking or
541
00:27:49.269 --> 00:27:51.430
I'm not the one that's reeking because there's some people
542
00:27:51.450 --> 00:27:55.369
that reek. So that's another one.
543
00:27:55.670 --> 00:27:57.470
You're not selling merch off of Stinky Pit.
544
00:27:58.130 --> 00:28:02.099
No. And then this is something I carry with me
545
00:28:02.210 --> 00:28:04.819
because of jujitsu. I do it now for wrestling. It's
546
00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:06.839
mouth guards. I make sure I have at least two
547
00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:11.420
because I don't want to get my teeth knocked out
548
00:28:11.579 --> 00:28:15.299
or busted lip because I just got hit just for
549
00:28:15.319 --> 00:28:17.000
not having it in. So I usually have just, like,
550
00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:17.539
mouth guards.
551
00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:20.259
I mean, it goes with the gimmick, too.
552
00:28:20.980 --> 00:28:23.079
Yeah, and it's also a gimmick thing, too. So it
553
00:28:23.099 --> 00:28:27.700
kind of helps me out. Because that's the one thing
554
00:28:27.720 --> 00:28:29.500
I thought about when I got into wrestling. I didn't
555
00:28:29.539 --> 00:28:33.119
want my teeth knocked out. So I was like, I
556
00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:35.779
already trained you to do this. I already wear a
557
00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:39.740
mouth guard. Let me just wear it here. It just
558
00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:40.640
makes more sense that way.
559
00:28:41.029 --> 00:28:43.410
Well, plus, I mean, even Cesaro got his teeth shoved
560
00:28:43.470 --> 00:28:47.160
back into his head. So like, you know, and he's, yes,
561
00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:49.359
he's physical, but for the most part, he's not doing
562
00:28:49.380 --> 00:28:50.119
the same stuff you are.
563
00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:53.859
No. So, you know, I always thought it was good
564
00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:56.720
to have him because I was like, I don't want
565
00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:59.240
any facial injuries because I was just being stupid. Right.
566
00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:01.980
Plus, if anything, you could start getting custom ones or
567
00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:03.680
make your own and sell them at the gimmick table.
568
00:29:04.380 --> 00:29:06.319
Yeah. I've thought about that. I got to actually get
569
00:29:06.380 --> 00:29:08.599
on that now. So now, you're another person that's brought
570
00:29:08.619 --> 00:29:08.839
that up.
571
00:29:08.940 --> 00:29:11.640
See, there we go. So the universe telling you to
572
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:12.079
get on it.
573
00:29:12.700 --> 00:29:16.900
Yeah, I got to start bringing merch to the shows now.
574
00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:18.460
Now, this question may not apply to you, but I'm
575
00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:20.289
going to ask it anyway because I like to be
576
00:29:20.849 --> 00:29:23.849
standard with all wrestlers, male or female. Do you have
577
00:29:23.970 --> 00:29:25.250
a double-stick tape story?
578
00:29:26.450 --> 00:29:28.029
A double-stick tape story.
579
00:29:28.690 --> 00:29:31.309
Most people use it like fabric tape to kind of
580
00:29:31.690 --> 00:29:33.890
make sure things don't fall out or they stay where
581
00:29:33.910 --> 00:29:34.309
they need to.
582
00:29:35.049 --> 00:29:37.569
No. So what I do for that is when I
583
00:29:37.589 --> 00:29:40.819
have my trunks, I have a pair of like a smaller,
584
00:29:40.859 --> 00:29:42.279
like pair of like swim trunks underneath.
585
00:29:42.299 --> 00:29:43.380
I've always been curious about that too.
586
00:29:44.180 --> 00:29:46.640
I always have that underneath because I'm not the person
587
00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:48.039
that's going to just bare ass it.
588
00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:50.519
You're not Ric Flair in it.
589
00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:52.059
You said what?
590
00:29:52.380 --> 00:29:53.210
You're not Ric Flair in it.
591
00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:56.640
No, I'm not doing that because I don't want to accidentally,
592
00:29:56.700 --> 00:29:59.690
like they try to do like a heelish like pin.
593
00:30:00.180 --> 00:30:03.960
And now everybody sees my ass. Right. So I just,
594
00:30:04.339 --> 00:30:08.740
I have a pair of black, like smaller, not like tight,
595
00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:13.160
but like smaller, like swim trunks underneath. So if I
596
00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:15.299
was to pull my trunks down or they get pulled down,
597
00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:18.680
all you're seeing is black underwear underneath. You're not seeing
598
00:30:18.700 --> 00:30:22.640
anything you don't need to see. So that's usually what
599
00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:26.900
I do to prevent like gear mishaps. There we go.
600
00:30:27.809 --> 00:30:30.410
I have to make sure everyone's asked about it.
601
00:30:30.829 --> 00:30:31.470
That's what I do.
602
00:30:33.269 --> 00:30:35.289
If anybody has never seen you wrestle before, what three
603
00:30:35.309 --> 00:30:36.670
matches do they go out of their way to watch?
604
00:30:36.690 --> 00:30:40.829
So I'm still kind of building that as we speak,
605
00:30:41.390 --> 00:30:46.029
but I have one. It's on my YouTube, but it's
606
00:30:46.049 --> 00:30:49.869
this guy, Bradley Henderson, who also should be on your
607
00:30:49.890 --> 00:30:55.599
show because he's pretty good. That one. That was a
608
00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:57.819
pretty good one. I don't want to say that's a
609
00:30:57.900 --> 00:31:02.119
nasty bump, but it looks crazy. I take his finish
610
00:31:02.170 --> 00:31:03.950
at the end of the match, and it looks crazy.
611
00:31:03.970 --> 00:31:06.109
I was not hurt at all. It just looks crazy
612
00:31:06.130 --> 00:31:15.000
as shit. That's that one. There is the qualifier match
613
00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:20.000
for the EWA C16. It was the pre-show match, but
614
00:31:20.059 --> 00:31:25.490
that's another one. It's on the EWA's YouTube. So that's,
615
00:31:25.589 --> 00:31:29.369
that's there. Nice. Uh, just type in AJB versus lemon guy. That's,
616
00:31:29.430 --> 00:31:33.329
that's the match and show up. So that's two already.
617
00:31:33.750 --> 00:31:38.670
And then the third one, uh, I probably would say, um,
618
00:31:40.029 --> 00:31:42.990
me and Eddie boss, which also was a pre-show match,
619
00:31:43.029 --> 00:31:46.319
but that was one that I was really happy about. Um,
620
00:31:47.099 --> 00:31:49.130
not only because I performed well, but because my girlfriend
621
00:31:49.150 --> 00:31:52.700
was there and she got to see me. So, um,
622
00:31:53.609 --> 00:31:56.119
So those three are three matches that I'd probably recommend.
623
00:31:56.130 --> 00:31:59.859
Because I have other ones, but, you know, I don't know.
624
00:31:59.940 --> 00:32:01.779
Some of them are cool. Some of them are good,
625
00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:04.740
and the other ones I prefer not to talk about.
626
00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:07.220
Hey, you got to have bad matches. Otherwise, you never
627
00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:09.660
know what to do and what not to do.
628
00:32:10.089 --> 00:32:12.470
There's one match that I don't think we'll ever see
629
00:32:12.490 --> 00:32:15.690
the light of day. But I was supposed to go
630
00:32:15.710 --> 00:32:17.410
for a powerbomb, and he puts me up, and I
631
00:32:17.450 --> 00:32:19.089
come down, and it looks like I spiked on my head.
632
00:32:19.130 --> 00:32:21.410
I didn't spike on my head. I fell on my hands,
633
00:32:21.730 --> 00:32:26.109
and I... protected myself on my hands, but it is crazy.
634
00:32:26.190 --> 00:32:28.809
And also, the match itself, to me, I personally didn't like,
635
00:32:28.849 --> 00:32:33.369
so I wouldn't recommend it for anybody. But me versus
636
00:32:33.390 --> 00:32:37.859
Lemon Guy, me, Eddie Bloss, and then me and Bradley Henderson.
637
00:32:38.740 --> 00:32:40.799
Those are the three matches I can think of. And
638
00:32:40.819 --> 00:32:48.309
they're also all very recent. They all happened this year. So, those.
639
00:32:48.490 --> 00:32:52.000
I would recommend those to people. So, For anybody who's watching,
640
00:32:52.019 --> 00:32:55.400
I don't know when you're going to put this up,
641
00:32:56.059 --> 00:32:59.769
matches that you want to see from me, type in
642
00:32:59.849 --> 00:33:05.150
AJB versus Lemon Guy, AJB versus Eddie Bloss, and then
643
00:33:05.269 --> 00:33:09.529
AJB versus Bradley Henderson, or Bradley Henderson versus AJB. Because
644
00:33:09.549 --> 00:33:11.029
that one's on my personal YouTube. When you type that
645
00:33:11.109 --> 00:33:13.869
one in, it'll come up. So those are three I
646
00:33:13.910 --> 00:33:18.069
would recommend for people who have never seen me. Recommend those,
647
00:33:18.089 --> 00:33:22.250
because those are Or matches I personally think are better.
648
00:33:22.329 --> 00:33:24.609
But it's also a fourth match that I would recommend.
649
00:33:25.089 --> 00:33:26.690
I would if I had the whole clip. I don't
650
00:33:26.730 --> 00:33:31.809
have the whole match. It's me and David Moses. I
651
00:33:31.869 --> 00:33:35.210
personally loved that match. I'm just upset that we only
652
00:33:35.250 --> 00:33:37.410
have two minutes of it. We don't have that one.
653
00:33:37.890 --> 00:33:39.670
I'm just upset about that one. Because if I had
654
00:33:39.710 --> 00:33:41.890
the whole match, I would have posted that everywhere. Because
655
00:33:41.970 --> 00:33:45.450
I loved that one. But that's an honorable mention. But
656
00:33:45.710 --> 00:33:47.230
I don't have the whole match. I can't really recommend
657
00:33:47.250 --> 00:33:49.599
that one. But those three I said, those are the
658
00:33:49.619 --> 00:33:52.460
ones I probably would recommend because it encapsulates me.
659
00:33:53.779 --> 00:33:55.819
There we go. Well, I have a segment on the
660
00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:57.940
show I call The Five Count, which is five random questions.
661
00:33:58.519 --> 00:33:59.880
Yeah.
662
00:33:59.940 --> 00:34:01.839
Number one, what was the last three things you Googled?
663
00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:07.829
The last three things I Googled? I Googled how to
664
00:34:07.869 --> 00:34:12.769
make ranch dressing, how to make honey mustard, and not
665
00:34:12.829 --> 00:34:16.469
how to make fries. I don't know how to make fries.
666
00:34:17.050 --> 00:34:24.760
But The last one was probably if dogs can eat grapes. Oh, yeah.
667
00:34:24.920 --> 00:34:25.760
They are not good for them.
668
00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:28.480
No, I didn't think that one up. They are not.
669
00:34:29.900 --> 00:34:31.659
I ask my Alexa on a regular basis, but it's
670
00:34:31.699 --> 00:34:32.679
good and not good for dogs.
671
00:34:32.739 --> 00:34:36.800
Yeah, makes sense. Yeah, so that's the last two things
672
00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:38.880
I Googled that I can remember. There you go.
673
00:34:39.610 --> 00:34:42.289
Number two, if you owned a liquor company, brewery, winery,
674
00:34:42.349 --> 00:34:44.489
coffee shop, or dispensary, which one would you own and
675
00:34:44.550 --> 00:34:45.230
what would the name be?
676
00:34:46.489 --> 00:34:53.719
Dispensary. Probably. And what I would call it, it sounds corny,
677
00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:55.090
but it's the first thing that kind of came to
678
00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:59.269
my head. The weed to see, because it's like playing
679
00:34:59.329 --> 00:35:03.030
on my little slogan. I probably would call it that.
680
00:35:03.170 --> 00:35:05.789
But yeah, dispensary, because I mean, alcohol, I like alcohol,
681
00:35:05.809 --> 00:35:10.909
but I don't like it enough to have a drink. Coffee,
682
00:35:10.929 --> 00:35:15.889
I don't really like coffee. If it was when you
683
00:35:15.909 --> 00:35:18.070
didn't say that, I could open up probably like a
684
00:35:18.110 --> 00:35:23.199
bookstore or something. Okay. Because I like reading articles. It'd
685
00:35:23.239 --> 00:35:28.059
probably be like a Kindle store. Like, you know, Amazon Kindles. Oh, yeah, yeah.
686
00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:32.460
And rent it for like however long and then read
687
00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:35.239
a book on there. I'd probably do that, too, in addition.
688
00:35:35.630 --> 00:35:37.309
And I'd probably open up a tea shop, too. I
689
00:35:37.449 --> 00:35:38.230
like tea a lot.
690
00:35:38.309 --> 00:35:40.789
I mean, you could combine all of them together.
691
00:35:42.070 --> 00:35:44.989
A dispensary, bookstore. I could do that.
692
00:35:45.269 --> 00:35:45.489
Yeah.
693
00:35:45.849 --> 00:35:47.090
They give me ideas.
694
00:35:47.969 --> 00:35:52.199
It's just a brainstorming session. This is not an interview.
695
00:35:52.380 --> 00:35:54.489
Number three, who was the last person you fanboyed out on?
696
00:35:54.500 --> 00:36:00.699
The last person I fanboyed out on? It's kind of funny.
697
00:36:01.300 --> 00:36:05.380
The last person that I fanboyed out on probably was
698
00:36:06.090 --> 00:36:09.929
Orange Cassidy because I didn't expect to meet him that day.
699
00:36:10.090 --> 00:36:12.530
So I was pretty shocked about it.
700
00:36:12.530 --> 00:36:14.769
It is one of those things when you see him
701
00:36:14.989 --> 00:36:16.690
and obviously you don't expect him like, holy shit, what
702
00:36:16.710 --> 00:36:17.090
are you doing?
703
00:36:17.150 --> 00:36:19.989
Like, Yeah, that's literally what it was. Like, holy shit,
704
00:36:20.050 --> 00:36:23.449
what are you doing here?
705
00:36:23.530 --> 00:36:27.679
Number four, who or what inspires you?
706
00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:34.340
What inspires me? So I am a dad. So my
707
00:36:34.380 --> 00:36:36.920
daughter does because I'd be looking at like, what's she
708
00:36:36.940 --> 00:36:41.909
going to look like in like 15 years or 18?
709
00:36:42.489 --> 00:36:47.619
That's one. My mom is because, you know, My mom
710
00:36:47.659 --> 00:36:53.119
is a pretty strong, strong woman, especially after the last
711
00:36:54.380 --> 00:36:56.519
two years. I don't want to say it's tough, but
712
00:36:56.539 --> 00:37:06.469
it's been very, very different. And then probably, this is 3A, 3B.
713
00:37:07.269 --> 00:37:11.909
Probably my dad, because he never got to see me wrestle.
714
00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:16.340
And then my girlfriend, because my girlfriend is ultra supportive.
715
00:37:18.110 --> 00:37:20.829
my girlfriends are supportive my dad never got to see
716
00:37:20.849 --> 00:37:22.739
me wrestle so I do this more so for him
717
00:37:22.820 --> 00:37:28.039
than me now my daughter because she is amazing even
718
00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:30.960
though she has a very feisty little personality and then
719
00:37:31.059 --> 00:37:33.960
my mom so that's 3P that's 4.
720
00:37:33.619 --> 00:37:37.760
People but you know 3A 3B that's perfect and then
721
00:37:37.780 --> 00:37:39.530
number 5 what would you tell your 17 year old.
722
00:37:39.449 --> 00:37:44.329
Self that you're going to be friends with Drew Gulak
723
00:37:44.550 --> 00:37:47.380
in like 10 years That's what I would tell myself
724
00:37:47.449 --> 00:37:50.920
because I remember watching the, the, the Cruiserweight Classic. I
725
00:37:50.940 --> 00:37:53.880
was like, this would be so cool to be a
726
00:37:53.900 --> 00:37:55.719
part of this. It'd be so cool to know these people.
727
00:37:56.159 --> 00:37:59.860
And little did I know, I, what, at this point, what,
728
00:37:59.940 --> 00:38:03.159
nine years later, I would be cool with Drew Gulak. Right.
729
00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:08.239
I can talk to, uh, Lince Dorado whenever I want to. Um,
730
00:38:10.900 --> 00:38:13.880
and then I would meet one of the alternates for
731
00:38:13.900 --> 00:38:16.280
the Cruiserweight Classic and Ian, and what's his name? Uh,
732
00:38:16.760 --> 00:38:20.619
Filipino Grigio. He was one of the alternates for the
733
00:38:20.659 --> 00:38:24.139
Chris Ray Classic. So I speak to him, I don't
734
00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:25.159
want to say on a regular basis, but I speak
735
00:38:25.179 --> 00:38:29.010
to him frequently. I'm cool with you, Gulak, and I
736
00:38:29.030 --> 00:38:31.289
can talk to Lindsay the Rider whenever I want to.
737
00:38:32.789 --> 00:38:34.869
That's what I would tell my 17-year-old self, that you
738
00:38:34.909 --> 00:38:37.630
will know these people in like nine years.
739
00:38:39.630 --> 00:38:42.409
That's awesome. Now, if people want to find out more
740
00:38:42.429 --> 00:38:45.380
about you, see you live, follow you online, support you
741
00:38:45.400 --> 00:38:46.380
in any way, how can they do so?
742
00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:51.760
Um, you can go, my TikTok is AJB, AJB, uh,
743
00:38:51.820 --> 00:38:54.219
the man to see. It's in a spell now. It's
744
00:38:54.260 --> 00:38:58.460
not like initialized. It's spelled out. Um, Twitter or X
745
00:38:58.519 --> 00:39:02.590
as they call it now is, it's just AJB MTS.
746
00:39:02.929 --> 00:39:04.610
That's what that is. So you just type that in
747
00:39:04.670 --> 00:39:09.170
and I'll pop up. Excuse me. Um, my Instagram is
748
00:39:09.429 --> 00:39:15.210
AJB TMTS pro. Um, and you'll see a little cool
749
00:39:15.230 --> 00:39:17.360
little thing on my Instagram. Um, I'm going to be
750
00:39:17.420 --> 00:39:19.030
in a video game, so that was kind of nice.
751
00:39:20.650 --> 00:39:25.090
And Wrestling Booking Simulator 2026, I'm going to be in that.
752
00:39:25.389 --> 00:39:27.880
It's not pinned, but it's on top of my profile,
753
00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:31.570
so you'll see it when you look at it. Their
754
00:39:33.409 --> 00:39:36.809
EWA Pro Wrestling, I get posts on there pretty frequently
755
00:39:36.849 --> 00:39:44.860
because I get booked on their shows. Fight Club Pro Wrestling,
756
00:39:45.550 --> 00:39:49.239
they post on their Facebook and Instagram, not Instagram, Facebook
757
00:39:49.579 --> 00:39:53.079
and Instagram too. I didn't want to say not. Facebook, Instagram,
758
00:39:53.159 --> 00:39:57.409
and their YouTube, the shows that they have, and they
759
00:39:57.469 --> 00:40:01.949
do weekly episodic shows called Mochella. So I'm featured in
760
00:40:01.969 --> 00:40:04.590
like the most recent one they put out because my
761
00:40:04.650 --> 00:40:07.570
tag match is on that one. So you can see
762
00:40:07.730 --> 00:40:14.530
me wrestling on there too. So Fight Club Pro, EWA
763
00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:30.710
Pro Wrestling, Thank.
764
00:40:30.590 --> 00:40:32.469
You so much to AJB for being on the show. Again,
765
00:40:32.650 --> 00:40:34.980
definitely make sure to follow him on social media. Find
766
00:40:35.039 --> 00:40:38.260
out where he's going to be. Follow him and obviously
767
00:40:38.300 --> 00:40:40.920
help support him in any way possible because independent wrestlers
768
00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:43.539
definitely need all the support they can get. So support
769
00:40:43.579 --> 00:40:45.480
him and all the independent wrestlers while you're out there.
770
00:40:46.019 --> 00:40:47.599
So while you're doing all that, make sure to go
771
00:40:47.619 --> 00:40:48.840
support us on social media.
772
00:40:48.940 --> 00:40:49.820
It is Bruiser's Pod.
773
00:40:49.840 --> 00:40:54.889
That is B-R-E-W-S-C-R-S-B-O-D on the Instagram, the threads, and the Twitter.
774
00:40:55.449 --> 00:40:57.889
If you want to send us an email, it is bruiserspod.gmail.com.
775
00:40:58.269 --> 00:41:00.010
If you're going to follow me directly, it is Rodijon.
776
00:41:00.030 --> 00:41:03.820
That is R-O-D-I-E-J-O-N. Rodijon is the name on the Twitter
777
00:41:03.960 --> 00:41:05.440
and on Untappd. In case you want to find out
778
00:41:05.460 --> 00:41:06.900
what I'm drinking, maybe we can have a beer together.
779
00:41:07.300 --> 00:41:08.519
If you're going to follow me on the threads or
780
00:41:08.539 --> 00:41:11.340
the Instagram, it is OfficialRodijon. So until next time, make
781
00:41:11.360 --> 00:41:13.260
sure to enjoy life, drink local, and cheers.