Drew McIntyre Opens Up About Getting FIRED From WWE & Making His Comeback

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I mean, I'm from Scotland. There's only 5 million people
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in the whole country. So you say you're going to
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go to WWE, that American thing. I'm like, sure. I'm
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going to fly to the moon with a space shuttle.
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Is it running?
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Oh, we're running.
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We're running? Okay. Yeah. Okay. We're live now. All right. Cool.
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Bringing these swears at my sister.
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You already got like, yeah. We covered so much already.
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It was a pleasure to have you, Drew. Thank you
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so much for coming. Have you done a lot of podcasts?
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Ever. Never.
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Yeah, just in general.
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Oh, yeah.
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I mean, I know you work a lot.
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Yeah, I've been with WWE specifically. I signed in 2007,
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so almost 20 years ago. I've been wrestling since I
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was 15, and I was doing whatever version of podcasts prior.
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I guess it would be radio spots I would have
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done before that. And then since I came to America, WWE,
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the giant machine that it is, I've been doing literally
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every form of media you can possibly imagine. And with
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an accent like this, this is me. 20 years of work,
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the most well-spoken Scotsman in the world.
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When I first- I wonder what it was like when
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you first started.
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You can find it online. I found a news report
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for Scottish television when I first signed with WWE. It
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was the first ever Scotsman signed to WWE. I did
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the national news. I watched it back a couple of
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years ago and I did not understand a word I
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was saying. I could see myself sitting there going, And
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I'm like, I just made a joke and I laughed
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at my own joke and I don't know what I said.
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Yeah, I'm not going to lie. When you were out front,
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I was like, oh, you got a suit on. You're like, fancy.
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And you said something about your wife wanting you to
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wear it.
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Yeah.
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I didn't know what you said at first and I.
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Had to think about it. Once I see a red light,
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we've got that red light over there, then I kind
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of turn the accent on. The amount of times like
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Triple H will say to me. Like Drew here, the
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marble mouth. Remember you give me the microphone every week
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to talk on TV? When I have to talk, I
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can turn it on and I turn it back off.
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You like slow it down a little bit?
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Yeah, yeah.
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Scott's fast.
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And then say the words because, yeah, we have the
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thickest accent in the world and we speak at 100
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miles an hour. The English don't understand what we're saying.
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Well, you said you've been wrestling for like forever, but
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since you were a kid, you were obsessed with it.
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You said right before we got on.
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Yeah.
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What got you obsessed with it?
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Just watching it? Yeah, I was at my older cousin's
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house when I was about five or six. I am there.
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I got much older than myself and my brother. I
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got a brother that's a year younger. He was there
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as well. And cousins that are like 10 years, 15
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years and 20 years older. And they were watching the
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wrestling and we were kind of watching it from the
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background behind the sofa. Like it was kind of forbidden
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to watch.
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It was more taboo back in the day.
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Yeah, I mean, this was for kids. It was just like,
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nobody told us it's okay to watch, but we've been
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told we can't watch certain things that were on TV
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at the time. Like, you know, the adults would watch
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a movie and like, hey, you can't watch this. So
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we weren't sure if we could watch the wrestlers were
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peering in, hiding behind the sofa. And I was just
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so captivated. by the larger-than-life characters on the screen. I
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was like, I'm going to do that. I've told this
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story a few times, but I did hold a family
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meeting when I was about five, six years old, where
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I said, I'm going to be a wrestler one day.
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I'm going to be in that WWE. Kids obviously say
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the darndest things. You're going to be a professional athlete, astronaut,
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ride a dinosaur professionally one day. But I stuck, never
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deviated from the plan. Like, I'm going to do this.
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But that's... I mean, the truth is, like, that's how
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it happens, right? That's just like how in life, if
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you're going to create something or be something or do something,
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it has to start with something delusional.
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Oh, yeah. It can take a while. I'm very lucky
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it happened when I was young. But you find a
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thing that that's what I'm going to do. Sometimes it
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takes people a little bit longer, and they find that thing.
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And then they're like, okay, zone in on it. They
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give it everything, and they succeed. Or they don't succeed,
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but as long as you give it your all. I
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knew from the moment I saw it, I have to
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give it my all. I'm aware this is an American thing.
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Even as a young age, I have to gather information.
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I got to start building my body. I sent away
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to America for the inside secrets of wrestling volume one
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and volume two when I was 10 years old. And
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I'd read those things cover to cover the secret backstage words,
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how you put the matches together. Like you got to
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keep the secrets. If you're in the business, that word
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is called kayfabe. That's like keeping the secrets, but it
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wasn't written phonetically. So I'd go to school. Everyone would
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talk and like it was real, like it was UFC
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or boxing, whatever. And I'd play along in my head.
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I was thinking, I'm keeping Kefabi right now. I'm in
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the business, brother. I wasn't written phonetically. I didn't know
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how to say it. But I knew all the inside
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stories and whatever. And I tell my mom, I've got
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to go to wrestling school. And she kept saying, no,
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you're too young. When I was 15, I really pushed it.
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And there was two wrestling schools in the UK, in Portsmouth, England,
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and Kent, England, which is as far as you can go, basically,
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without falling off the end of England. And I'm from Ayr, Scotland.
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When I was 15, she finally agreed I could go
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to one. It was a 12-hour journey there, a 12-hour
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journey back. And I would go back and forth as
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often as I could afford, as often as my mom
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and Nana would give me the money and learn how
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to wrestle until we started a wrestling school and wrestling
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company in Scotland when I was 16 and started doing
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regular shows when I was 16. What's the hardest part
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of wrestling when you start? Everything. I thought I was
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just going to walk into the school and then just,
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here we go. It's the next Stone Cold Steve Austin, everybody.
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He's here.
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The future's here.
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And I was like, I could do all the moves.
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I could do tombstones and suplexes. And when I started
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hitting the ropes and kind of like, it wasn't as
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easy as I thought. And I hurt hitting the corner,
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black and blue, all of my back and my ribs
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and taking the falls for the first time. And you're like, God,
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I thought the ring would be a little bit softer
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than this. And learning to tuck your chin. Like if
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you do jujitsu or judo, whatever, when you're coming down
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on the mats and learning how to take the falls,
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you got to keep the chin tucked, you rattle your head,
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you get headaches initially.
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Yeah, I have friends who've gone and they've done the tryouts,
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and they're like, this is not at all what I thought. No,
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it was very, very physical. That's what shocked me at first.
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But then also, it's so not theatrical in the way
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that it's a play or something, but I guess when
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the people were describing it to me, they're like, I
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didn't realize I was going to have to have a character,
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create a character.
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That's the biggest part. Once you learn the moves, you've
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got to get the basics down, but how are you
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going to connect emotionally with the fans? Because if you
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go out there and 20,000 people just sit in their hands,
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that's a problem. You've got to figure out who you are,
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how you're going to relate to everybody out there, how
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you're going to make an emotional connection with the crowd
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to make them care about you and make them forget
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what they think they know. It's one thing the kids
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are going to be into it. Maybe the ladies are
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excited to see some dudes in their underpants, I don't know.
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But some of the guys, the preconceptions are with their family,
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they paid a lot of money, and they're sitting there
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as a, how are you going to hook everybody? Once
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you figure out that character and your style, you want
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everybody to get involved and I've always been all about
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getting every single person in that building either cheering me
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or booing me, but the next day I want those
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dads at the water cooler saying, hey, whatever you think
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about that wrestler, when that Drew McIntyre was in there,
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he was kicking the crap out of that guy. There's
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marks all over the other guy, because my philosophy is,
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you're two grown men, you can take a hit, it's
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live TV, shut up. Take a hit.
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That's how it should be.
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Yeah, don't break my nose, but just lay it in.
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Yeah, because at one point you were what they.
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Call the chosen one, right?
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Now you are.
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He literally went on TV and went, this is the
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chosen one. Yeah.
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And so in 2014, you're out of it. Like, was
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that a plan or was that?
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Oh, no, no, no.
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I got fired.
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There was no plan. It was like a cool storyline. Like, hey,
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got this idea. We'll pretend you're fired. No, I got
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a phone call and said, hey, you're fired in 2014.
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So the dream job, I'd get signed in 2007. I
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was on TV three weeks after I got to America.
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It was such a whirlwind. I was a chosen one.
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I was the guy saving the girls from the tracks.
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going to be the the top dog and things went
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terrible professionally and personally a lot of stuff was going
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on in my life and i ended up being the
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comic relief on the show and then um you know
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a lot was going on with the company a lot
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of money was been lost on the wb network and
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they made some massive cuts and i was part of
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um those cuts and uh yeah i was out the
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job i was just moved into my first apartment with
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the girlfriend who's now the wife yeah three days prior
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uh before i got fired which is cool did you
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think that was the end I had to have a
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conversation with myself, and I've done a lot of looking
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back at this. I wrote a book, My Chosen Destiny,
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available now.
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Hell yeah.
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And I went through it with her, went through it
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with a lot of people, what was going on in
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my mind at the time. And it was, oh no,
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this is all I've known, all I wanted. Do I
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have to get a regular job now? Is the dream over?
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And it was only a day I really thought about it.
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I was like, no, screw this. I know this is
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what I know and I believe I can do it
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better than anybody. I'm gonna hit the ground running. Social
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media was starting to really take off 2014. It was
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getting big. There's multiple companies around the world outside WWE,
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they're getting some buzz. I'm gonna create the character I
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wanna be, I believe is marketable. And I'm gonna take
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it around all these companies, present it on social media
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how I want to present it. I'm gonna show everybody
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and that was the game plan and thankfully, it worked out.
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So when you came back, were you more of a heel,
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I guess they would call you more of a villain?
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Because when you first started, you were more of a hero, yeah?
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When I was younger, I was more of a hero.
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But since I came to America, I was always the
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bad guy. From that first run in WWE, from I
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was 7 to 14.
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Yeah.
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Foreign guy. You know, kind of older mindset. If you're foreign,
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you've got to be a bad guy.
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Yeah, that's valid.
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The evil Scotsman. And when I was younger, I didn't
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look like this. I wasn't as. big i kind of
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looked like one of those abercrombie and fitch guys.
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I did that when i was 18 i used to
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stand i swear to god bro i'm not kidding i
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stood in front of a store during like christmas season
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and i had a big jacket on i had my
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abs out people took pictures with me oh.
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Wow you did it i just looked at one of
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the guys we actually did it.
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Bro i actually did it like i swear to you
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i was in i remember first year of college sacramento
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i like some mall up there like one of the
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funniest moments of my life to be honest because people
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would just come by and be like.
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Like look at me like I wasn't real like I
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was just standing there like a statue and then they
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would come be like can we take a picture oh
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that's good it was weird and I.
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Am possible for working I was always you got to
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keep the abs.
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Yeah and I also learned how to fold clothes like
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you know square Wow stupid things things you don't need.
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Maybe I need to be there I get crap from
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the missus all the time I can't fold a thing
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what are you useless.
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No I'm not I'm not folding shit now no fuck
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no thank you yeah.
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But i'm not before you've come yeah yeah yeah fuck
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the folding yeah i just looked at one of those
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guys yeah so i played the arrogant kind of character
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when i was younger for that first run yeah and
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it was outside the company that's when i kind of
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tried out being the good guy and basically just try
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to find myself because the best characters are just you
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with the volume turned way up not playing a character
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being the character All.
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Right, guys, quick and rush for the podcast, quince.com, or
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00:10:16.340 --> 00:10:18.460
you guys can go and download the Quince app to
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00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:20.639
get a ton of exclusive offers. But listen, I know
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00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:22.879
I haven't updated this coffee table yet. I've been saying
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I'm going to. I actually legitimately need to, I think.
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00:10:25.659 --> 00:10:27.269
I mean, it works, but I kind of want to
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change the style, the aesthetic a little bit. And if
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you're looking to change any room in your house, doesn't
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matter what it is, they have everything, high quality stuff
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for great prices.
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Check it out. You guys can download the app. There's
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a bunch of exclusive offers in there. When you go
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there and when you're going to check out, make sure
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00:10:39.370 --> 00:10:41.509
you mention Raw Talk on the way out. Support the show.
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00:10:41.669 --> 00:10:43.879
But yeah, if you're looking to change colors of your
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00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:46.460
bed sheets or you're trying to get like some nice
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new towels or you want to get a new coffee
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table or a new couch, they literally have everything you
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could think of. The cool thing about Quince is that
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you can basically get something and return it within 365
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00:10:55.649 --> 00:10:56.370
days of buying it.
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00:10:56.389 --> 00:10:57.429
So let's say you get it and you're like, you
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00:10:57.450 --> 00:10:58.769
know what, I don't like it. I want to send
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00:10:58.809 --> 00:11:01.129
it back. I want to get something different, whatever. They
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00:11:01.389 --> 00:11:02.809
allow that, which is huge.
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00:11:02.850 --> 00:11:04.669
I mean, a lot of times you get something and
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00:11:04.710 --> 00:11:06.769
sort of sales are final, things are final, but you
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00:11:06.789 --> 00:11:08.659
can literally buy anything and be like, yo, I want
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00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:09.159
to return this.
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00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:11.700
And within 365 days, which is massive.
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00:11:11.740 --> 00:11:12.940
So if you guys want to check it out, the
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00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:14.259
easiest way to do it is download the app on
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00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:16.879
your phone. You could see, you know, their whole catalog.
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00:11:17.139 --> 00:11:19.139
You could also go online, quince.com. And when you guys
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00:11:19.179 --> 00:11:21.259
check out, make sure you mention where you found it
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00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:23.399
from raw talk to support the show.
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I love you guys. Let's get back into this podcast
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00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:26.960
with Drew. Yeah. So how does that work?
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00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.379
Like, cause from all the people that I've talked to
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00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:32.970
in the WWE, it's they, they obviously there's a, you know,
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00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.049
there's a storyline. How much of it do you have
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00:11:36.750 --> 00:11:41.779
like direction and like, you deciding where not, not necessarily
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00:11:41.820 --> 00:11:43.299
like the matches you get.
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Cause I, I know that's probably like from the.
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Whole like overarching thing, but the way you show up,
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00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.320
like how much, like you talk about the character you
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00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:53.250
create as far as, you know, how the fans react
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to you and how they're attracted to you or how
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00:11:54.850 --> 00:11:56.250
they're related, related to you.
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How do you create.
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00:11:57.610 --> 00:11:58.629
That with them?
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Kind of like in the background, kind of still, you know,
325
00:12:01.870 --> 00:12:03.110
you have to be this, you have to show up
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like that.
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00:12:04.669 --> 00:12:07.240
These days is very much a collaboration. and has been
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00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:09.860
for a few years now, with myself personally, anyway. And
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00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:11.879
generally across the board, if you know your character, you
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00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:16.120
can work with the writers, et cetera, and get yourself,
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00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.690
get the character into the story. But it's very important
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00:12:18.710 --> 00:12:21.309
to me to make sure the creative matches what I've
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00:12:21.350 --> 00:12:23.570
got going on in my head, like the writers, the
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00:12:23.590 --> 00:12:25.809
creative team, Triple H leading the creative team, they kind
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00:12:25.850 --> 00:12:27.929
of set out, here's the story, here's what we're thinking,
336
00:12:27.970 --> 00:12:30.149
here's who we're thinking you're going to work with, and
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00:12:30.169 --> 00:12:32.029
this is where we'd like to get to. Then it
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00:12:32.049 --> 00:12:34.250
goes week to week. How we get there, that's kind
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00:12:34.289 --> 00:12:36.200
of a collaboration. Like, when I go out there and
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00:12:36.220 --> 00:12:38.200
I've got an interview on the microphone, I'm not getting
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00:12:38.220 --> 00:12:40.519
handed a piece of paper that says, here's what you're saying,
342
00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:42.379
here's all the words you're saying, because that's what Drew
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00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:44.799
McIntyre would say. Because my response, which I've said in
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00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:47.240
real life, is, no, he wouldn't. What do you mean?
345
00:12:47.419 --> 00:12:49.710
I'm Drew McIntyre. I know what I would say. So
346
00:12:49.750 --> 00:12:51.649
we have to go back and forth about what we
347
00:12:51.669 --> 00:12:53.730
want in the paper, where we're going next, and make
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00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:55.669
sure it's in line with what's in my head. Because
349
00:12:55.710 --> 00:12:57.529
if I don't believe it, sure as hell the fans
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00:12:57.570 --> 00:12:58.809
are not going to believe it. They can see in
351
00:12:58.830 --> 00:13:00.629
your eyes, even if they don't know, or they can't
352
00:13:00.669 --> 00:13:04.129
articulate it. subconsciously they're like, I don't believe this. And
353
00:13:04.149 --> 00:13:05.990
I have to believe it so they believe it. So
354
00:13:06.009 --> 00:13:08.370
we very much work together every step of the way
355
00:13:08.389 --> 00:13:10.610
to create the storylines of where we're going and make
356
00:13:10.629 --> 00:13:13.070
sure we're getting the right emotional reaction. Then on top
357
00:13:13.110 --> 00:13:15.629
of that, you're in front of a live crowd. Sometimes
358
00:13:15.649 --> 00:13:17.409
they don't react to the stuff on the paper. And
359
00:13:17.450 --> 00:13:19.870
I'm very much the big ad libber. And sometimes it
360
00:13:19.909 --> 00:13:21.169
gets me a big slap on the wrist when I
361
00:13:21.190 --> 00:13:22.820
get to the back or a high five, like good
362
00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:25.620
move out there. It's one thing when Triple H is
363
00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:27.220
waiting for you when he's angry, but if he's happy,
364
00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:29.220
it's a very good feeling. But when I'm out there,
365
00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:32.200
if 20,000 people aren't digging what I'm saying, I'll listen,
366
00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:34.940
and I'll take a different direction. And sometimes it's the
367
00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:36.899
opposite of what we talked about because it didn't feel
368
00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.809
right out there. I'll see what's happening. The crowd react
369
00:13:39.850 --> 00:13:42.389
the right way. They're giving you real-time feedback. It's not
370
00:13:42.409 --> 00:13:44.809
like acting or whatever where there's no sound or whatever
371
00:13:44.870 --> 00:13:46.610
telling you you're doing it right. It's like you're doing
372
00:13:46.629 --> 00:13:48.450
it wrong because they're not reacting. So I'll go a
373
00:13:48.450 --> 00:13:50.669
different route. I'll go a different route. I'll get back.
374
00:13:51.149 --> 00:13:53.840
We'll talk about it. That might change the following week's creative.
375
00:13:54.289 --> 00:13:57.320
Such a difficult job because you're like, it's so physical.
376
00:13:57.419 --> 00:13:59.000
Yeah, it's a fun job. Obviously, yeah, you've got to
377
00:13:59.019 --> 00:13:59.240
love it.
378
00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:01.830
It's like an action soap opera. It's fucking crazy.
379
00:14:02.350 --> 00:14:03.409
It's crazy though, man.
380
00:14:03.809 --> 00:14:06.009
The most fun I ever had was at the WrestleMania,
381
00:14:06.169 --> 00:14:08.480
like at a live event ever.
382
00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:10.620
The fans are the best. Like in being in the crowd,
383
00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:13.269
I tell my mates all the time, Like back in Scotland, sometimes,
384
00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:15.419
you know, they weren't always the biggest wrestling fans or whatever,
385
00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:17.799
and you've got to give it a try live. Trust me,
386
00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:19.700
go live to the live show. Completely different. You'll find
387
00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:21.480
yourself caught up in it. You'll be chanting along. You
388
00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:23.100
wouldn't even know what just happened. Like, what just happened?
389
00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:25.659
I just found myself chanting along with everybody because the
390
00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:29.139
fans are just so awesome and passionate, like European soccer fans.
391
00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.379
Yeah, I've never been to another event where, like, when
392
00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:36.940
someone was actively wrestling, the whole crowd is there. You know, like,
393
00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:38.730
sometimes people go to the bathroom, they go get, you know,
394
00:14:38.750 --> 00:14:42.059
drinks or whatever, concession stuff. it's just like everyone's so
395
00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:45.929
locked in. That's like the crazy, like the energy was insane.
396
00:14:46.009 --> 00:14:47.549
It's the best feeling. But I've also been there when
397
00:14:47.570 --> 00:14:49.590
I was younger where the energy is not there. And
398
00:14:49.629 --> 00:14:51.529
it's a terrible feeling when I hadn't quite found the
399
00:14:51.549 --> 00:14:54.649
character yet. Like when I first started with the chosen
400
00:14:54.710 --> 00:14:58.509
one thing, my first pay-per-view match, we call them PLEs now,
401
00:14:58.549 --> 00:15:01.860
was right after a John Cena versus Randy Orton hell
402
00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.220
in a cell match. That's at the cage with the roof. Yeah.
403
00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:06.320
The peak of the blood feud. Like this was the
404
00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:08.679
end of their big story that dominated the company for
405
00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:12.009
a very long time. So they had the match. It
406
00:15:12.049 --> 00:15:14.250
was phenomenal. The crowd lost their minds. And then I
407
00:15:14.269 --> 00:15:16.889
was out right after it for my very first pay-per-view match.
408
00:15:16.909 --> 00:15:17.490
Oh, my God.
409
00:15:17.509 --> 00:15:19.360
That was the first entrance to my music kit. No
410
00:15:19.389 --> 00:15:21.340
one really knows who I am. And I'm like, hey, everybody.
411
00:15:21.580 --> 00:15:23.620
Fucking hell. I swear you could have dropped a pin.
412
00:15:23.799 --> 00:15:26.440
They're like, yeah, how do you follow that up? All right,
413
00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:26.940
you don't.
414
00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:28.000
Yeah, you just don't.
415
00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:30.820
It's just a kind of like, yeah. getting thrown into
416
00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:32.740
the fire and just seeing how you, how you react.
417
00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:35.070
That's fucking crazy. After those two.
418
00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:37.059
I know what it's like when there's no noise. And
419
00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:38.580
I know what it's like when they're loud as hell.
420
00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:42.259
You also did you, didn't you get your, your championship
421
00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:43.570
like during COVID?
422
00:15:43.669 --> 00:15:45.549
Oh yeah. Yeah. I beat Brock Lesnar in like four
423
00:15:45.610 --> 00:15:50.210
minutes in front of exactly two commentators, two cameramen.
424
00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:51.090
Yeah.
425
00:15:51.330 --> 00:15:52.149
Like five, six people.
426
00:15:53.090 --> 00:15:54.850
That had to, that had to be a weird moment.
427
00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:57.269
Cause I feel like if I'm thinking about wrestling and I'm,
428
00:15:57.389 --> 00:15:59.570
I'm wrestling my whole life, I'm thinking about the moment
429
00:15:59.590 --> 00:16:01.909
that I get the championship, the crowd's going nuts.
430
00:16:01.970 --> 00:16:05.129
WrestleMania, sold out stadium. Yeah. The way I dreamed of
431
00:16:05.169 --> 00:16:06.690
as a kid as well, which was going to happen.
432
00:16:06.730 --> 00:16:09.590
I won the Royal Rumble in January in front of 40,000
433
00:16:09.590 --> 00:16:13.529
people in Houston, Texas. Unbelievable reaction. I eliminated Brock and
434
00:16:13.570 --> 00:16:17.000
then eliminated Roman at the end. Finally, the dream bit fired,
435
00:16:17.029 --> 00:16:18.840
all the ups and downs. I'm going to go to Mania.
436
00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:21.019
It's in Tampa, Florida, where I'd lived for 13 years
437
00:16:21.059 --> 00:16:24.159
at the time. My family were all coming. Raymond James Stadium,
438
00:16:24.220 --> 00:16:27.259
sold out. Here we go, main event against Brock Lesnar.
439
00:16:27.539 --> 00:16:29.330
Can't go any better. And I don't know if it's
440
00:16:29.350 --> 00:16:31.230
because I won that this happened. The world shuts down.
441
00:16:31.250 --> 00:16:34.470
I thought it was my fault. The world couldn't take us. Oh, God,
442
00:16:34.490 --> 00:16:36.250
Drew's finally got things on track. The world's got to
443
00:16:36.289 --> 00:16:38.429
shut down. And then it ended up in front of
444
00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:41.669
literally nobody. But we were the only entertainment at the time,
445
00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:45.399
the only original entertainment. Sports shut down, and entertainment shut down,
446
00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:48.320
live TV, everything shut down except us. And we knew
447
00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:50.879
we had that responsibility. We put WrestleMania over two days
448
00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:53.399
instead of one day that weekend, so everybody at home.
449
00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:55.220
And no matter what we think now, what we know now,
450
00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:58.250
people were scared back then with so many unanswered questions.
451
00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:01.250
And I'm terrified, actually. I talked to a lot of
452
00:17:01.269 --> 00:17:03.610
people online at the time, people all across the world.
453
00:17:04.049 --> 00:17:06.269
And I was like, okay, this is their escape right now.
454
00:17:06.289 --> 00:17:07.670
I'm going to give it my all. I know it's
455
00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:09.970
my moment I dreamt about. I know it's not how
456
00:17:10.009 --> 00:17:11.670
I pictured it, but this is going to make some
457
00:17:11.690 --> 00:17:13.720
people happy. Drew's finally going to do it. He's finally
458
00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:16.279
going to win the title. And I beat Brock. And
459
00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:18.099
I remember sitting in the ring with the title in
460
00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:21.200
my hands. And the adrenaline wasn't like it was when
461
00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:24.079
I won the Royal Rumble, 40,000 people, whatever. It's that
462
00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:26.819
kind of moment where your adrenaline's up high. You know
463
00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:29.160
what it's like in sports, whenever your adrenaline's high. Later on,
464
00:17:29.180 --> 00:17:31.000
you're back at home, you're back in the hotel room,
465
00:17:31.019 --> 00:17:33.420
you calm down, you have a reflective moment and you
466
00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:35.759
kind of think about your performance. I've won many titles
467
00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:38.500
and had many moments where the adrenaline's going, you're back
468
00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.900
in the room, you have that moment. The world got
469
00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:43.559
to see that moment because I didn't have the adrenaline flying.
470
00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:46.640
I looked at the title, I had that personal montage
471
00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:48.569
in my head that you get when the adrenaline comes down,
472
00:17:48.609 --> 00:17:50.390
thinking about all the people that helped get me to
473
00:17:50.450 --> 00:17:53.450
that moment, all the family, the friends, everybody that sacrificed
474
00:17:53.470 --> 00:17:55.470
to get me to that moment and we never break
475
00:17:55.490 --> 00:17:57.390
the fourth wall or nobody didn't during that time. And
476
00:17:57.410 --> 00:17:59.279
there was nobody there. So I wanted to reach everybody.
477
00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:00.740
I looked down the camera like I'm doing right now.
478
00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:03.140
And I reached out and basically said, thank you. Like,
479
00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.980
thank you for getting me there. This is our moment. And, uh,
480
00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:08.539
it wasn't ideal, but it was ideal for the time.
481
00:18:08.579 --> 00:18:10.359
And yeah, I don't regret it at all, even though
482
00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:14.170
it will never be replayed in the montage and highlight packages. Yeah.
483
00:18:14.230 --> 00:18:16.769
History will remember when we needed someone to step up.
484
00:18:16.869 --> 00:18:17.430
I stepped up.
485
00:18:17.650 --> 00:18:19.609
Yeah, no, for sure. COVID was definitely that time.
486
00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:22.490
It's so many people just like flock completely flocked to
487
00:18:22.509 --> 00:18:24.339
the internet as far as like content. I remember that even,
488
00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:26.279
as a content creator in the space, it was like
489
00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.759
during COVID, that was when everyone, as far as like
490
00:18:29.859 --> 00:18:33.400
views and everything was like sky high. Cause obviously everyone's
491
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.970
fucking locked in their fucking house or, you know, couldn't
492
00:18:35.990 --> 00:18:39.730
go do certain things. During that time was, was, was,
493
00:18:40.069 --> 00:18:42.089
was it more difficult to like go out and do
494
00:18:42.130 --> 00:18:42.650
your job?
495
00:18:42.730 --> 00:18:45.269
Like, meaning like, did, did you.
496
00:18:45.170 --> 00:18:48.000
Have to, I don't know, follow certain rules or certain
497
00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:49.640
things that they, cause like here it was like, I
498
00:18:49.660 --> 00:18:51.259
had a gym open and I would, you know, I'm
499
00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:55.519
getting sued by the fucking state, California state. Like, so
500
00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:59.140
many different charges over such a long period of time. Like,
501
00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:01.259
did they have things that were stopping you from doing
502
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:02.700
your job? Like, did you guys have to do like
503
00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.250
the mass thing? Like how, how was that?
504
00:19:05.289 --> 00:19:07.430
It was very straight where we're having to get the,
505
00:19:07.730 --> 00:19:09.710
you remember the original nose test where they shoved it
506
00:19:09.730 --> 00:19:10.349
into your brain?
507
00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:10.950
Yeah.
508
00:19:11.089 --> 00:19:13.450
Like once a week and then backstage, if you're not
509
00:19:13.490 --> 00:19:15.619
directly in the segment, you have to wear the mask,
510
00:19:15.710 --> 00:19:19.400
et cetera. So it was a lot of protocols we
511
00:19:19.420 --> 00:19:21.940
had to follow during that time. Which was bizarre, and
512
00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:24.359
it was very quiet back there, and the idea that
513
00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:28.740
you're walking out there, and there's nobody there, and it's silence.
514
00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:31.319
We eventually moved into the arena, the Thunderdome, with all
515
00:19:31.339 --> 00:19:33.509
the screens and people on it, but initially it was
516
00:19:33.529 --> 00:19:35.910
just a warehouse, and no people there, and you had
517
00:19:35.930 --> 00:19:38.450
to remind yourself there's millions and millions of people watching
518
00:19:38.490 --> 00:19:42.289
at home, remember? You're the WWE champion, about to go
519
00:19:42.329 --> 00:19:44.569
and perform and do your interview, there's no live crowd,
520
00:19:44.589 --> 00:19:46.829
which is a great, I guess, training ground for what
521
00:19:46.910 --> 00:19:49.009
I've been doing recently with all the movies and stuff,
522
00:19:49.130 --> 00:19:51.809
you're literally walking out there and trying to to find
523
00:19:51.849 --> 00:19:54.630
that emotion and connect with people at home as opposed
524
00:19:54.650 --> 00:19:56.700
to connect with that live audience as well as people at.
525
00:19:56.710 --> 00:19:58.839
Home yeah it's a very that's kind of it has
526
00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.819
to be easier when when it's live because you get the.
527
00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:02.880
Feedback adrenaline's just flying and that's what the funnest thing
528
00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.160
about it you go out there and like that's what
529
00:20:05.180 --> 00:20:06.720
i miss i've been out six months now it's the
530
00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:09.619
longest i've ever not wrestled in my life like I've
531
00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:11.779
torn my bicep and brought my neck and all sorts.
532
00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:14.339
I've never been out for six months. I've been very busy,
533
00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.859
but I just miss the live crowd so much. It
534
00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:19.539
wasn't booing me, but I enjoy getting food.
535
00:20:19.579 --> 00:20:21.039
I want to talk about that directly as far as
536
00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:24.799
why you've been out for now. But I have a
537
00:20:24.819 --> 00:20:28.859
question specifically about the WWE, because you've experienced so many
538
00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:29.480
years of it.
539
00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:30.880
How has it changed?
540
00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:34.640
Obviously, besides social media, how has it changed from Vince
541
00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:38.390
McMahon to Triple H being sort of the leader?
542
00:20:39.450 --> 00:20:40.529
What was the biggest change?
543
00:20:42.230 --> 00:20:44.450
I mean, there's a few changes for sure. I mean,
544
00:20:44.470 --> 00:20:48.230
Vince obviously created the monster that is WWE. Yeah, hell yeah.
545
00:20:48.390 --> 00:20:51.529
Gave me every opportunity that I ever got, including being
546
00:20:51.569 --> 00:20:55.049
the champion representing during the most difficult period in history
547
00:20:55.230 --> 00:20:58.150
with COVID. He kind of saw things a little different,
548
00:20:58.289 --> 00:21:00.930
very much kind of black and white. A good guy,
549
00:21:00.990 --> 00:21:03.390
bad guy, keep things a little bit simpler so you
550
00:21:03.410 --> 00:21:05.059
can tune in for the first time and you understand
551
00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:07.640
exactly what's going on. You know, Hunters a bit more
552
00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:09.599
kind of live in shades of grey, which that's the
553
00:21:09.619 --> 00:21:13.240
real world. And 52 weeks a year, you can develop
554
00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:15.960
deeper layered story, deeper layered characters, especially if you know
555
00:21:16.009 --> 00:21:18.589
the character. And we had a big storyline involving a
556
00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:21.349
group called the Bloodline, the Romans, kind of the head
557
00:21:21.369 --> 00:21:23.130
of the table, head of the group. But they really
558
00:21:23.170 --> 00:21:26.130
went into the story, into the characters, and it really
559
00:21:26.190 --> 00:21:28.150
worked on the show. And I watched it like, yes, yes,
560
00:21:28.170 --> 00:21:30.089
because I know this is something I can do. I
561
00:21:30.109 --> 00:21:31.950
just need the opportunity to be able to show what
562
00:21:31.970 --> 00:21:33.849
I'm capable of as a performer, because I know my
563
00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:37.000
character inside out. 50 writers in a room can write
564
00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:38.940
the show, but they're thinking about everybody. I'm just thinking
565
00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:40.920
about me. I can't wait to get the chance to
566
00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.799
show this. And in 2022, we really started going from
567
00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.980
drew the big hero of COVID, the Scottish warrior to
568
00:21:47.180 --> 00:21:50.200
going down the path of becoming a bad guy, but
569
00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:52.170
not really a bad guy. Just the fans were looking
570
00:21:52.190 --> 00:21:54.630
for something different. And I'm like, Hey, I'm your guy.
571
00:21:54.690 --> 00:21:56.589
I'm fine. I've not lied. So to this day, I
572
00:21:56.589 --> 00:21:58.710
haven't lied. I still see myself as the good guy.
573
00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:01.400
I've never done anything wrong. I never changed. The fans
574
00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:04.140
just changed. And it's been this very fun character arc
575
00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:06.559
we've been on for the past four years because Triple
576
00:22:06.660 --> 00:22:08.940
H is very open to making it like real life
577
00:22:09.769 --> 00:22:11.890
and just living in shades of gray when it's time.
578
00:22:11.690 --> 00:22:12.349
For shades of gray.
579
00:22:12.869 --> 00:22:15.329
So you think Vince was more just like strict on
580
00:22:15.369 --> 00:22:16.509
like he wants it like this?
581
00:22:17.190 --> 00:22:17.670
Yeah, yeah.
582
00:22:17.690 --> 00:22:20.009
He looked like very specific way. He saw things like
583
00:22:20.049 --> 00:22:22.150
keep it, like don't talk about things that happened a
584
00:22:22.170 --> 00:22:24.390
month ago, two months ago. Not certainly not years ago.
585
00:22:24.589 --> 00:22:27.269
Let's live in the now. And Hunter is very open to, hey,
586
00:22:27.309 --> 00:22:30.089
if it makes sense for the story, bringing whatever helps.
587
00:22:30.369 --> 00:22:31.130
You can use everything.
588
00:22:32.450 --> 00:22:36.910
How different would you say you are, like, actual Drew
589
00:22:36.950 --> 00:22:38.809
from WWE Drew?
590
00:22:39.730 --> 00:22:42.299
Not far off. I find the truth in everything. And
591
00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:44.180
if I'm annoyed about something and you're like, wow, he
592
00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:46.039
seems really, like, you know, like, he's really annoyed about that,
593
00:22:46.059 --> 00:22:48.220
I'm probably actually annoyed about it. Or at least a
594
00:22:48.259 --> 00:22:50.759
little bit. Because everything I do, I have to find
595
00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:53.160
the truth in it. If I don't believe it, like,
596
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:55.289
then I'm wasting my time as far as I'm concerned
597
00:22:55.369 --> 00:22:55.710
out there.
598
00:22:56.309 --> 00:22:57.970
So then how do you make the transition to, like,
599
00:22:58.779 --> 00:23:02.609
Straight up acting. Cause acting is like, I mean, obviously
600
00:23:02.619 --> 00:23:04.349
I guess it depends on the roles you pick, right?
601
00:23:04.369 --> 00:23:07.569
Cause it's, it's straight up acting. It's like really make believe.
602
00:23:08.309 --> 00:23:10.589
Yeah. But again, I've found the lessons I learned to
603
00:23:10.650 --> 00:23:12.529
WWE and I have worked with an acting coach for
604
00:23:12.589 --> 00:23:16.130
six years now and, uh, kind of, um, got some,
605
00:23:16.509 --> 00:23:18.269
some nice emotions in my tool belt that can pull
606
00:23:18.329 --> 00:23:20.539
out at any time and learn some techniques, how to
607
00:23:20.579 --> 00:23:22.799
do that. But also I've lived a life with a
608
00:23:22.819 --> 00:23:24.220
lot of ups and downs and I have a lot
609
00:23:24.259 --> 00:23:26.339
I can pull from real emotion and, But even in
610
00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:28.839
the acting roles, I look for what's real in there
611
00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:31.960
to me, even if on the page, like, Drew, that's
612
00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:34.119
nothing to do with you. I will find something. Or
613
00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:36.359
even if it's not what's on the page or what's
614
00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:38.009
on the screen, there'll be something going on in my
615
00:23:38.069 --> 00:23:41.410
head that's completely ridiculous and unrelated that I'm finding what
616
00:23:41.470 --> 00:23:43.990
I need to project onto the screen. And if people
617
00:23:44.009 --> 00:23:46.109
could see in my head sometimes what I'm using to get,
618
00:23:46.130 --> 00:23:49.369
you know, be it some of the stuff I've done recently,
619
00:23:49.410 --> 00:23:51.869
vulnerability with tears, et cetera, they would be like, you're
620
00:23:51.890 --> 00:23:54.410
a psycho, you need committed. Why is that going on
621
00:23:54.430 --> 00:23:56.650
in your head right now? Because that's what's real, that's
622
00:23:56.690 --> 00:23:59.190
what's going to get what I need, what's written there.
623
00:23:59.829 --> 00:24:02.990
What are those things, though? What is the most vulnerable thing?
624
00:24:03.569 --> 00:24:05.109
I mean, I won't give you the stuff that will
625
00:24:05.130 --> 00:24:08.869
get me committed. The stuff that I've used a lot
626
00:24:08.910 --> 00:24:11.609
in the past few months to get certain emotional states.
627
00:24:11.750 --> 00:24:13.519
Nate, can you please turn off the Discord?
628
00:24:14.670 --> 00:24:17.789
Sorry, I apologize. Oh, no, no. But yeah, I'll give
629
00:24:17.809 --> 00:24:19.710
you one thing. This is kind of an easier one.
630
00:24:21.170 --> 00:24:24.549
Like in Highlander, there's a certain moment, I won't give
631
00:24:24.589 --> 00:24:28.319
anything away, but I'm playing Angus, Henry Cavill's brother. He
632
00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:32.700
plays Connor McCloud, the head chieftain of the clan, where
633
00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:37.440
I have a moment where I'm scared and upset, and
634
00:24:37.460 --> 00:24:41.079
I have to have a real long, which is like
635
00:24:41.099 --> 00:24:43.279
six seconds, might as well feel like six minutes on camera,
636
00:24:43.769 --> 00:24:46.150
go through a range of emotions which results in fear
637
00:24:46.329 --> 00:24:49.509
and being very upset at the end of it from
638
00:24:49.650 --> 00:24:51.309
anger at the very beginning. I was like, how am
639
00:24:51.329 --> 00:24:53.230
I going to get there? Anger, that comes naturally to me.
640
00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:57.400
Everything annoys me. But where am I going to get
641
00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:01.640
this journey? And my cat, unfortunately, that I'd had for
642
00:25:01.640 --> 00:25:03.339
13 years, the wife and I had had Chaz for,
643
00:25:03.380 --> 00:25:07.529
was very sick. And we had to put him down.
644
00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:10.720
right before this happened. And I remember just the process
645
00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:12.319
of having the people come to the house, thinking it'd
646
00:25:12.339 --> 00:25:15.460
be easier. It wasn't easier. How scared he looked, how
647
00:25:15.500 --> 00:25:18.859
my wife reacted, how I reacted. Horrible process. It burned
648
00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:21.140
in my brain. So that's what I was kind of
649
00:25:21.180 --> 00:25:24.299
working with during that. That was a simpler one to use.
650
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:27.519
But there's also different situations, different scenes where I had
651
00:25:27.539 --> 00:25:29.380
to go back to my past as a kid. Didn't
652
00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:30.779
have to, but I felt like this is going to
653
00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:33.880
get what I need here. And it is completely messed
654
00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:35.920
up and would definitely have me committed if people could
655
00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:38.069
see in my head But as long as whatever's going
656
00:25:38.089 --> 00:25:41.359
on in the eyes gets what is on the paper
657
00:25:41.390 --> 00:25:44.500
and what emotional area you're trying to reach or the
658
00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:46.460
director's trying to get you to reach, that's all that matters.
659
00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:48.480
And it's a fun game. And it really pushes you emotionally.
660
00:25:48.500 --> 00:25:51.680
It's like a workout. Instead of the muscles hurting, sometimes
661
00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:54.319
after certain scenes. I remember the first scene I had
662
00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:56.779
with Russell Crowe, I was really trying to get to
663
00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:59.400
a certain place. Once we got finished after 40 minutes
664
00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:00.940
or something, I had to sit down. I was like, man,
665
00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:02.619
I'm emotionally drained. That was wild.
666
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.710
Yeah. Yeah, what's it like working with people like that?
667
00:26:05.730 --> 00:26:07.880
Because these guys are like legends in acting.
668
00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:10.680
Like, Russell Crowe's a fucking gladiator. I mean, some of
669
00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:14.059
my favorite movies. Do they, like, give you advice?
670
00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:17.720
Oh, yeah. It's just surreal. Like, there's people I'm leaning on, like,
671
00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:20.299
with Highlander. I mean, initially, it was Killer's Game. I
672
00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.299
did a few years ago. Dave Bautista, who I've known forever.
673
00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:24.420
He looked after me when I was a kid in WWE.
674
00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:26.980
He brought me into my first movie. Made me believe
675
00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:28.920
this is something I can do. And he played the
676
00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:31.920
Kurgan in Highlander as well. So not only was Dave
677
00:26:31.940 --> 00:26:34.359
there to kind of lean on, like Henry was awesome.
678
00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:37.220
Kevin McKidd was also Scottish. He was in Grey's Anatomy
679
00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:40.680
for 20 years. Just finished. Those people right there, you know,
680
00:26:40.700 --> 00:26:43.220
giving me advice, being able to lean on them and
681
00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:45.880
just give me positive reinforcement more than anything. Like Henry
682
00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:47.779
was just like, you know, relax, just be you. You're
683
00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:50.019
doing a great job. You can tell everything's coming right
684
00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:52.819
from here, especially the specific scene I was talking about there.
685
00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:55.049
He was like, I watched that back. Really great job.
686
00:26:55.619 --> 00:26:58.900
Besides the physicality of wrestling, what's harder, acting or wrestling?
687
00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:02.920
Because physicality, obviously, it's clear that's harder.
688
00:27:03.180 --> 00:27:05.839
Yeah, I mean, the physicality in the acting is tough, too.
689
00:27:05.980 --> 00:27:08.779
And you're kind of called to, like, boom, you're sitting there.
690
00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:11.200
People are just sitting around, hurry up and wait, rather
691
00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:14.559
than planes and cars, like in wrestling. You're just sitting
692
00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:16.420
on set for hours at a time, and then suddenly
693
00:27:16.460 --> 00:27:18.519
it's like an action sequence. And I'm the only one
694
00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:20.799
that felt it was warming up, especially I did Last
695
00:27:20.819 --> 00:27:24.069
Druid in Barcelona with Russell. And a lot of the
696
00:27:24.109 --> 00:27:26.029
guys were just sitting, just hanging out, chatting. And then
697
00:27:26.069 --> 00:27:28.130
I was like, when we up? Probably an hour or two,
698
00:27:28.150 --> 00:27:30.279
which probably means four hours. And then I start kind
699
00:27:30.299 --> 00:27:32.779
of loosening up and moving around. And it's just crazy.
700
00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:33.960
A lot of the guys will just get up and
701
00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:37.500
start swinging swords and throwing punches and very, very physical.
702
00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:42.599
Surprisingly physical. So they're difficult in different ways, I would say.
703
00:27:42.660 --> 00:27:45.859
But I definitely felt just as physically and more emotionally
704
00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:49.200
drained from the scenes. The wrestling is very much an
705
00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:51.970
adrenaline dump because of so many people I am in
706
00:27:51.990 --> 00:27:54.230
the crowd, your adrenaline is up here, and afterwards it's
707
00:27:54.269 --> 00:27:58.029
just plummeting right down. And then after the action sequences
708
00:27:58.089 --> 00:28:01.049
or the acting sequences in the movies, you just feel like, ooh,
709
00:28:01.069 --> 00:28:03.210
I had a heck of a workout without the extreme
710
00:28:03.710 --> 00:28:06.670
dump of the dopamine.
711
00:28:08.430 --> 00:28:11.490
Do you ever have any conversations with any of your
712
00:28:11.609 --> 00:28:13.890
fellow actors or even people in the WWE?
713
00:28:14.849 --> 00:28:19.230
No, you're good. About aliens? Do I talk to any
714
00:28:19.269 --> 00:28:21.740
of the colleagues about it? I mean, not unless they
715
00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:22.200
bring it up.
716
00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:23.680
Do you never bring it up?
717
00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:27.259
I don't think so. Mostly with my mates I've known
718
00:28:27.299 --> 00:28:28.339
for a while because I don't want to be a
719
00:28:28.339 --> 00:28:33.240
complete weirdo first. They'll find that out later. But yeah,
720
00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:36.180
I mean, when I was sending away for the secrets
721
00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:38.400
of wrestling when I was 10 years old, I was
722
00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:41.589
also sending away to the FBI. I'm sure you read
723
00:28:41.609 --> 00:28:44.089
the Freedom of Information Act because I had a subscription
724
00:28:44.109 --> 00:28:46.190
to a magazine and I was reading about Ebola and,
725
00:28:46.789 --> 00:28:50.210
you know, conspiracy theories. And I also had like, you know,
726
00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:53.049
ghosts and paranormal and stuff like lots of weird stuff
727
00:28:53.069 --> 00:28:54.329
in there but i had a sample letter to the
728
00:28:54.430 --> 00:28:56.509
fbi where you can request whatever documents you want i
729
00:28:56.519 --> 00:28:58.859
went oh cool and then i wrote my little letter
730
00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:01.680
and filled in the documents i wanted the roswell project
731
00:29:01.700 --> 00:29:04.220
blue book a bunch of stuff ufo related and took
732
00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:05.920
my pocket money and sent it to the fbi and.
733
00:29:06.359 --> 00:29:08.259
Do you still do you still think about stuff like that.
734
00:29:08.420 --> 00:29:10.069
I mean i still pay attention to it but i
735
00:29:10.109 --> 00:29:11.990
realized even as a young kid when my dad was
736
00:29:12.009 --> 00:29:13.670
waiting for me when i got home one day with
737
00:29:13.690 --> 00:29:15.589
that document like why are the fbi in america sending
738
00:29:15.609 --> 00:29:17.839
you these documents and oh they came cool He was like,
739
00:29:17.859 --> 00:29:19.940
go outside and play, be normal, you weird kid. I
740
00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:22.960
was like, give me those documents. But yeah, even as
741
00:29:22.980 --> 00:29:24.990
a kid, when I was like, God, a year later,
742
00:29:25.009 --> 00:29:26.650
two years later, 11, 12, I was like, all right, cool,
743
00:29:26.670 --> 00:29:29.009
there's conspiracy theories for a reason. With a smoke, there's fire.
744
00:29:29.029 --> 00:29:30.710
You find out too much, I'll off you. I'll probably
745
00:29:30.730 --> 00:29:32.970
focus on this wrestling thing. So I paid attention to it,
746
00:29:32.970 --> 00:29:35.109
but not as obsessed. My obsession went towards the wrestling,
747
00:29:35.450 --> 00:29:38.250
and I paid attention to that rather than Mel Gibson
748
00:29:38.289 --> 00:29:39.150
and conspiracy theories.
749
00:29:42.259 --> 00:29:42.559
Yeah.
750
00:29:42.630 --> 00:29:45.640
So if you had to guess, what do you think
751
00:29:45.980 --> 00:29:48.319
it is? What do you think aliens are?
752
00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:53.259
I mean, I think it's probably the simplest explanation. We'd
753
00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:55.140
be very arrogant to think we're the only life on
754
00:29:55.180 --> 00:29:59.390
this entire gigantic universe, and they're just more advanced than us.
755
00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:02.430
hoping it's not like south park where we're just a
756
00:30:02.490 --> 00:30:06.869
television show for another for another bloody planet where they're
757
00:30:06.890 --> 00:30:09.089
all sitting there watching welcome to earth where we took
758
00:30:09.130 --> 00:30:11.890
people from the zebra planet and the elephant planet hopefully
759
00:30:11.910 --> 00:30:14.569
it's not like fucking mars attacks or some shit yeah
760
00:30:14.589 --> 00:30:16.690
that's great movie like i watched it again recently and
761
00:30:16.730 --> 00:30:18.289
i remember being silly like even as a kid i
762
00:30:18.309 --> 00:30:19.529
think it was kind of silly and i watched it
763
00:30:19.549 --> 00:30:21.809
but man this is great yeah.
764
00:30:21.230 --> 00:30:25.170
Yes bro i felt the same way because i remember
765
00:30:25.190 --> 00:30:26.880
watching that younger and i was like holy shit i
766
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:29.460
watched it again i literally like two months ago, and
767
00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:30.960
I was like, damn, this is great still.
768
00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:33.359
Freaking awesome. I'm trying my best not to swear today.
769
00:30:33.380 --> 00:30:34.480
You know how hard it is not to swear as
770
00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:36.720
a Scottish person? They punctuate my sentences.
771
00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:37.839
I feel like it's in your DNA.
772
00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:40.700
It is. Yeah. Alcoholism and swears.
773
00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:43.200
You never got into anything like that, like alcohol?
774
00:30:43.710 --> 00:30:45.690
Oh, yeah, yeah, big time, yeah, yeah. Big effect on
775
00:30:45.710 --> 00:30:50.880
my firing the first time. Yeah, maybe burning the candle
776
00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:52.799
at both ends and setting the candle on fire during
777
00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:54.839
that period. It's like, you've got to drink after the
778
00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:56.400
show with the lads, and it's your off day, you've
779
00:30:56.420 --> 00:30:58.039
got to drink, and it's suddenly like, wait, it's been
780
00:30:58.079 --> 00:30:59.250
like five days since we've come out.
781
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:01.210
You've got to drink, it's a day, it ends in Y,
782
00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:01.880
we've got to drink.
783
00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:05.289
Yeah, exactly, it's a very Scottish and Irish thing, and
784
00:31:05.309 --> 00:31:06.809
it just so happens my best mate's Irish, so it
785
00:31:06.829 --> 00:31:09.920
was a bad combination. So, yeah, we lived up our 20s,
786
00:31:09.930 --> 00:31:12.109
let's say, in I had to get myself together. When
787
00:31:12.130 --> 00:31:13.990
I was outside the company, I actually broke my neck
788
00:31:14.029 --> 00:31:17.089
in a match, non-displaced fracture, T2 and T3, very, very lucky.
789
00:31:17.390 --> 00:31:19.490
So I just had to wear the neck brace. It
790
00:31:19.509 --> 00:31:21.950
was the first time I was stationary in my life.
791
00:31:22.250 --> 00:31:25.029
I went from university, signed to WWE, straight to WWE,
792
00:31:25.430 --> 00:31:27.490
straight to getting fired, straight back on the road. I'd never,
793
00:31:27.609 --> 00:31:29.769
ever been stationary in my entire life. And I finally
794
00:31:29.789 --> 00:31:31.789
was sitting down, and the wife said, you're gonna crash
795
00:31:31.829 --> 00:31:33.269
and burn. I said, what do you mean? I'm the
796
00:31:33.309 --> 00:31:35.539
biggest wrestler in the world. The social media thing worked,
797
00:31:35.559 --> 00:31:38.029
I took everyone around. The world with me, they believe
798
00:31:38.069 --> 00:31:39.569
now that this is what Drew was supposed to do.
799
00:31:39.589 --> 00:31:42.349
He's supposed to be a main event star. What do
800
00:31:42.369 --> 00:31:44.490
you mean? Well, you're out too much, apart from your
801
00:31:44.529 --> 00:31:46.430
boys back in Scotland. Every time you go back there,
802
00:31:46.450 --> 00:31:49.670
everywhere you go, you're gonna crash and burn. It's not sustainable. Also,
803
00:31:49.690 --> 00:31:52.029
I'm gonna leave your ass. I was like, okay, I
804
00:31:52.049 --> 00:31:54.089
bet you think about this. And as I say, no
805
00:31:54.109 --> 00:31:55.529
choice but to think, and I kind of look myself
806
00:31:55.589 --> 00:31:57.750
in the mirror, cuz you can't lie to yourself. I'm like,
807
00:31:57.829 --> 00:31:59.750
all right, where do you wanna be? You're doing so
808
00:31:59.769 --> 00:32:01.549
well right now, but you wanna be back in WWE.
809
00:32:01.630 --> 00:32:03.829
I gotta fulfill the prophecy, win the titles and stuff.
810
00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:06.900
I've got to be back there eventually, but at the
811
00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:08.599
same time, how am I going to get there? I
812
00:32:09.140 --> 00:32:11.119
could be in better shape. You're not eating the way
813
00:32:11.140 --> 00:32:12.789
you should be eating. I'm working out, but not working
814
00:32:12.809 --> 00:32:14.509
out the way I should have been. Who's the biggest
815
00:32:14.789 --> 00:32:16.549
attraction in the world? Brock Lesnar. If I walked in
816
00:32:16.609 --> 00:32:19.319
front of him, is that believable right now? No. No, no.
817
00:32:19.329 --> 00:32:21.750
You've got to start working out harder. Who's the best
818
00:32:21.769 --> 00:32:24.630
at the microphone? Paul Heyman. He's with Brock Lesnar. Okay.
819
00:32:25.190 --> 00:32:26.650
I've got to start getting the mic on every show.
820
00:32:26.730 --> 00:32:27.700
So I made a plan in my head what I'm
821
00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:29.319
going to do, and I've got to cut out drinking
822
00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:31.680
all the time. Cut out completely at first, but you've
823
00:32:31.700 --> 00:32:36.230
got to find a balance eventually. Scottish. Yeah. but I
824
00:32:36.250 --> 00:32:38.470
started looking at the diet stuff I started really eating
825
00:32:38.529 --> 00:32:42.390
just tons and I lose weight so easily but I
826
00:32:42.410 --> 00:32:44.859
just start eating an absolute crap load after this and
827
00:32:44.920 --> 00:32:47.259
training myself getting the mic on every show and the
828
00:32:47.299 --> 00:32:49.380
size came on so quickly I went I think I
829
00:32:49.380 --> 00:32:52.079
was about 240 maybe at the time I was straight
830
00:32:52.099 --> 00:32:55.119
to like 245 250 255 the weight was just flying
831
00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:57.490
on my body just reacted instantly to the amount of
832
00:32:57.509 --> 00:32:59.309
food that I was putting in there yeah I was
833
00:32:59.349 --> 00:33:02.539
back in WWE not long after then I'd went forward,
834
00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:04.180
won the Royal Rumble, as we talked about. And I
835
00:33:04.180 --> 00:33:07.200
remember coming backstage and one of the guys, Ricochet, had said,
836
00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:09.000
that's pretty cool. And I looked at the screen and
837
00:33:09.019 --> 00:33:12.450
the graphic was Drew McIntyre versus Brock Lesnar with Paul
838
00:33:12.490 --> 00:33:15.029
Heyman at WrestleMania, because I'd just challenged Brock. And I went,
839
00:33:15.490 --> 00:33:19.369
that's what I envisioned with the broken neck. Yeah.
840
00:33:19.529 --> 00:33:22.710
So how did you get there, though? I mean, obviously,
841
00:33:23.579 --> 00:33:26.019
you know how you got there. But I mean, mentally,
842
00:33:26.059 --> 00:33:29.680
because you injured yourself when you were off. And obviously,
843
00:33:29.740 --> 00:33:31.740
it was a shitty injury. It was a fucking neck injury.
844
00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:33.779
Yeah, I mean, it sounds worse than it is. Broken neck,
845
00:33:34.019 --> 00:33:37.839
never good. But a non-displaced fracture, so the bicep took
846
00:33:37.859 --> 00:33:39.799
me out for longer. I tore my bicep off the bone.
847
00:33:40.259 --> 00:33:42.920
That was three months. It was eight weeks with the
848
00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:46.190
cast from the chin basically down to my stomach. Just
849
00:33:46.250 --> 00:33:50.329
immobilized and got very, very lucky. Went in the neck
850
00:33:50.349 --> 00:33:53.630
to this day, no issues. I had MRIs. A few
851
00:33:53.670 --> 00:33:55.529
things going on in there, but nothing anywhere close to
852
00:33:55.809 --> 00:34:00.599
anything important. So I got very, very lucky. What was
853
00:34:00.619 --> 00:34:00.859
the question?
854
00:34:01.269 --> 00:34:04.250
Question is basically like it's i guess it's kind of
855
00:34:04.269 --> 00:34:06.710
like seems like your whole career you've sort of envisioned
856
00:34:06.730 --> 00:34:07.890
where you want it to be obviously it's how you
857
00:34:07.930 --> 00:34:09.780
and you're you're talking about being a child saying like
858
00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:11.000
this is what i'm going to do this is what
859
00:34:11.019 --> 00:34:14.860
i want to be how much throughout your career did
860
00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:18.170
you just fall back on it seems like manifestation just
861
00:34:18.210 --> 00:34:20.630
believing that it's a possibility is that.
862
00:34:20.530 --> 00:34:21.670
Just like a lot of the time and i think
863
00:34:21.710 --> 00:34:24.369
i lost that for a period during the the period where,
864
00:34:24.610 --> 00:34:26.969
you know, again, like a lot of personal stuff going on.
865
00:34:26.989 --> 00:34:29.289
And my first run in WWE, my mother got sick
866
00:34:29.630 --> 00:34:31.949
and then inevitably passed. That sent me off the freaking
867
00:34:31.989 --> 00:34:35.309
deep end. Yeah. And I'd stopped being positive. I stopped
868
00:34:35.550 --> 00:34:38.619
working as hard as I could. I wasn't accountable and
869
00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:42.300
I wasn't manifesting anything. I was complaining about everything. Like
870
00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:44.400
there wasn't, hey, this is crap, but we got to,
871
00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:46.880
you know, we got to start trying harder for her,
872
00:34:47.500 --> 00:34:49.519
if anything, if not for myself. In the end, you
873
00:34:49.539 --> 00:34:52.019
have to do it for yourself. Yeah. That's what it
874
00:34:52.059 --> 00:34:54.789
came to was that conversation. in the mirror, even though
875
00:34:54.809 --> 00:34:56.530
things were going well, but I really was believing in
876
00:34:56.550 --> 00:34:58.610
myself during that period, even before I kind of cut
877
00:34:58.630 --> 00:35:01.110
out the alcohol and started getting myself in shape. I
878
00:35:01.159 --> 00:35:03.360
was back to, hell yeah, I know I can do this.
879
00:35:03.420 --> 00:35:04.780
I know this is what I know. I know I
880
00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:06.659
can be the man in this, and it really was happening.
881
00:35:07.219 --> 00:35:08.739
And then it was, okay, I know I can get
882
00:35:09.139 --> 00:35:11.320
in great shape. I know I can get really good
883
00:35:11.340 --> 00:35:13.440
on the microphone, learn to enunciate. I know I'm pretty
884
00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:15.159
quick in real life. I just have to learn how
885
00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:17.280
to find my voice in wrestling, which I did and
886
00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:19.500
inevitably became part of my game as one of the
887
00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:22.590
biggest crap talkers on screen and on the internet, etc.,
888
00:35:23.570 --> 00:35:25.690
And it really is a lot to do with the
889
00:35:25.710 --> 00:35:29.219
other manifestation. Like you say, believing in yourself, seeing it
890
00:35:29.260 --> 00:35:31.179
before it happens. And I know it's true because I've
891
00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:33.860
done it so many times in my life. Just saw
892
00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:35.940
it in my head that it happens. I'm like, wow,
893
00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:37.800
that's the thing I was thinking about. And it's happened again.
894
00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:40.369
Weird that if you just believe in yourself and put
895
00:35:40.429 --> 00:35:42.590
in the work, the actual work, not just say you're
896
00:35:42.610 --> 00:35:45.070
putting the work, like leaving no stone unturned. And at
897
00:35:45.090 --> 00:35:46.650
the end of the day, looking in the mirror and going,
898
00:35:47.070 --> 00:35:48.650
did you do it? You can lie in social media.
899
00:35:48.769 --> 00:35:50.750
You can lie to your mates. You can lie to yourself.
900
00:35:50.769 --> 00:35:52.300
And if you truly put the work in, you can
901
00:35:52.340 --> 00:35:53.239
do freaking everything.
902
00:35:54.030 --> 00:35:56.889
Is there anything you haven't done that you thought you
903
00:35:56.909 --> 00:35:58.670
should have been able to do at this point?
904
00:35:58.690 --> 00:36:01.199
Not really.
905
00:36:01.219 --> 00:36:04.079
I mean, all the accolades I've pulled off. I mean,
906
00:36:04.099 --> 00:36:06.659
sometimes there's disagreements when it comes to the creative and
907
00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:08.739
how you see things going. But I don't make those decisions.
908
00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:10.599
So you can only control the controllable. You've got to
909
00:36:10.699 --> 00:36:13.300
accept that in life sometimes. But no. And there's things
910
00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:15.309
that happen I didn't even see happening. Like the movie stuff.
911
00:36:15.989 --> 00:36:18.530
Like a lot of our guys do auditions. And that's
912
00:36:18.570 --> 00:36:20.309
kind of something maybe they want to do in the future.
913
00:36:20.329 --> 00:36:22.820
I never... really thought about it. I didn't think about
914
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:23.820
it at all. I was like, I'm going to wrestle
915
00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:26.949
and wrestle forever. And Dave, as I say, called me.
916
00:36:26.980 --> 00:36:29.159
I did the one movie. And then I got in
917
00:36:29.179 --> 00:36:32.360
a conversation with Chad that directed the Hallander movies and
918
00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:35.199
did the John Wick movies. I was at his office.
919
00:36:35.619 --> 00:36:37.500
I'll try and pronounce his surname, but I'll butcher it. Sorry, Chad.
920
00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:41.780
It's fine. He's a badass. He didn't just direct the
921
00:36:41.800 --> 00:36:44.760
John Wick movies. He was also Keanu Reeves' stunt double,
922
00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:48.190
martial art double in the Matrix movies. And he's evolved
923
00:36:48.210 --> 00:36:50.329
to one of the biggest, most amazing directors in the world.
924
00:36:50.389 --> 00:36:52.590
But I was at his office chatting away. My agent
925
00:36:52.610 --> 00:36:54.829
told me, you've probably been there 15 minutes. Two hours later,
926
00:36:54.849 --> 00:36:56.530
we're just chatting it up. Such a cool guy. And
927
00:36:56.550 --> 00:36:57.820
he was like, so you want to play Angus?
928
00:36:57.840 --> 00:36:58.880
I was like, yes, I do.
929
00:36:59.739 --> 00:37:03.840
That's how that happens. And then I met Russell on Highlander.
930
00:37:03.860 --> 00:37:05.800
I was just watching himself and Henry do a key
931
00:37:05.820 --> 00:37:08.559
scene and just try to learn. I wasn't there that day.
932
00:37:08.840 --> 00:37:09.940
I was supposed to be on set. I just wanted
933
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:11.760
to come in and watch some of the masters at it.
934
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:13.920
I was like, wow, this is cool. And then the
935
00:37:13.960 --> 00:37:16.760
next day, Russell was having a leaving party and someone said,
936
00:37:16.780 --> 00:37:18.539
do you want to go to Russell Crowe's leaving party?
937
00:37:18.579 --> 00:37:20.179
I was like, no. It doesn't seem like something I
938
00:37:20.199 --> 00:37:22.039
want to do. Why would I want to do that? Yes,
939
00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:24.099
of course I want to go to his leaving party, idiot.
940
00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:27.739
They took me along, and then Henry was there, and he's,
941
00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:28.739
like I say, he's awesome.
942
00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:29.659
He was like, drive you back, Russell?
943
00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:31.289
I was like, no. Had a couple of Guinnesses by
944
00:37:31.309 --> 00:37:33.789
this point. He's like, come on, sit beside him. He
945
00:37:33.809 --> 00:37:35.889
sits me right beside him under the learning tree, and
946
00:37:35.909 --> 00:37:38.010
I just sat there listening to him. Great storyteller. His
947
00:37:38.050 --> 00:37:40.989
missus as well. Awesome person. And yeah, I just got
948
00:37:41.030 --> 00:37:44.389
to spend some time with him. And once I finished Highlander,
949
00:37:44.409 --> 00:37:47.760
I was about to return to WWE, and I got
950
00:37:47.780 --> 00:37:49.980
a phone call from the agent, and he said to me,
951
00:37:50.860 --> 00:37:52.559
Russell Crowe's asking for you to be in a movie.
952
00:37:53.800 --> 00:37:55.320
And I hung up. I should have said, I've got
953
00:37:55.340 --> 00:37:57.300
De Niro in the other line or something. Someone said
954
00:37:57.340 --> 00:37:59.920
that recently. I was like, that's pretty funny. But I
955
00:37:59.940 --> 00:38:01.119
didn't believe it. I just hung up. And he called
956
00:38:01.139 --> 00:38:02.869
me back. I was like, I'm serious. He really is.
957
00:38:03.210 --> 00:38:05.349
He wants you for this movie. And I was like, okay,
958
00:38:05.369 --> 00:38:06.889
sorry about that. But he sent me the script, whatever.
959
00:38:06.929 --> 00:38:08.269
Let's talk about it, I guess, if this is a
960
00:38:08.269 --> 00:38:10.070
real thing. And I really liked the script. I loved
961
00:38:10.090 --> 00:38:13.449
the character. And the fact Russell was asking for me,
962
00:38:13.449 --> 00:38:15.340
which is bizarre to me, I guess he went to
963
00:38:15.380 --> 00:38:18.199
Henry and kind of asked about me. Henry put me
964
00:38:18.280 --> 00:38:21.340
over for the performance on Highlander. And we got working
965
00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:23.019
with WWE and said, I know I've been out for
966
00:38:23.039 --> 00:38:25.239
a couple of months and supposed to come back. But
967
00:38:26.159 --> 00:38:28.219
there's this thing here, I think it's a big opportunity.
968
00:38:28.760 --> 00:38:30.889
I'm not leaving. I wanna be the first full time
969
00:38:31.050 --> 00:38:34.309
WWE wrestler that's done two movies with A-listers back to back.
970
00:38:34.329 --> 00:38:35.750
I think it's a great look for the company. It's
971
00:38:35.789 --> 00:38:38.510
good for my brand, which is good for our brand. Yeah.
972
00:38:38.570 --> 00:38:41.090
And I basically had that whole speech ready. The executives said, okay,
973
00:38:41.110 --> 00:38:42.909
if Triple H says okay, and I had it ready.
974
00:38:42.949 --> 00:38:45.159
I got him on the phone, we're talking. And I'm like,
975
00:38:45.179 --> 00:38:46.780
here we go. I've got my notes. And he was like, yeah, Drew,
976
00:38:46.820 --> 00:38:48.199
I think it's best we keep you off and do
977
00:38:48.320 --> 00:38:49.900
it because it is a great opportunity. I was like, oh,
978
00:38:49.940 --> 00:38:51.800
damn it. But Paul, I've got all these notes and
979
00:38:51.820 --> 00:38:53.519
things to say. I'm not even going to tell you yet.
980
00:38:53.539 --> 00:38:55.039
And he was like, no, Drew, you're good. Just don't
981
00:38:55.059 --> 00:38:57.480
even have to tell me. Plus, I was talking so fast. Like,
982
00:38:57.500 --> 00:39:00.309
my real life voice had taken pre-workout. And he had
983
00:39:00.349 --> 00:39:01.690
no idea what I was saying anyway. I was like, Drew,
984
00:39:01.710 --> 00:39:04.789
just go do the movie. Come back. We're finished. So
985
00:39:04.829 --> 00:39:06.230
they were awesome about it. And then I got to
986
00:39:06.250 --> 00:39:09.869
do the last road. That wasn't spent. Ten weeks living
987
00:39:09.889 --> 00:39:12.980
in Barcelona, two weeks in Gran Canaria. with not just
988
00:39:13.019 --> 00:39:15.860
Russell himself, but like, Matty Noble, who was like his
989
00:39:15.909 --> 00:39:17.750
number two in the movie, really helped me out, really
990
00:39:17.769 --> 00:39:20.429
gave me great advice, and his son, Tenny, as well,
991
00:39:20.530 --> 00:39:22.349
just really, really learned a lot during that period.
992
00:39:22.409 --> 00:39:23.789
Legends, man, that guy's a legend.
993
00:39:24.090 --> 00:39:25.750
Yeah, and it's so weird. At first, like, I think
994
00:39:25.789 --> 00:39:27.210
every time I said his name, I said his full
995
00:39:27.230 --> 00:39:29.230
name for the first couple of weeks, and then eventually
996
00:39:29.269 --> 00:39:31.559
it just becomes the first name, like Henry as well.
997
00:39:31.619 --> 00:39:33.519
It's just so bizarre, but you know the deal. You
998
00:39:33.539 --> 00:39:36.460
meet people that you admire, like in our world, and
999
00:39:36.519 --> 00:39:37.760
you meet people you watch on the big screen, and
1000
00:39:37.780 --> 00:39:38.940
you get to know them, and you're like, oh, wow,
1001
00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:40.639
they're just very good at what they do. You're good
1002
00:39:40.659 --> 00:39:42.099
at what you do. You're good at what I do.
1003
00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:44.760
You spend time with people, especially ones you want to
1004
00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:47.260
learn from. It's like, okay, this is cool. I'll pick
1005
00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:48.989
your brain, but you're just a cool guy to hang
1006
00:39:49.030 --> 00:39:51.639
out with. And he enjoys a good time. I enjoy
1007
00:39:52.449 --> 00:39:52.929
a good time.
1008
00:39:52.949 --> 00:39:55.590
So are you going to focus more on, it seems like,
1009
00:39:56.349 --> 00:39:57.309
Hollywood kind of stuff?
1010
00:39:58.750 --> 00:40:01.750
Whatever makes sense. I'm focused on coming back to wrestling.
1011
00:40:01.769 --> 00:40:03.300
We also filmed, we have to talk about it, the
1012
00:40:03.820 --> 00:40:05.559
WWE Real Short, Vertical Short.
1013
00:40:05.579 --> 00:40:06.340
Yeah, exactly.
1014
00:40:06.400 --> 00:40:08.900
As soon as I came back from Spain, we got
1015
00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:12.079
right into that as well. The WWE working with Real
1016
00:40:12.159 --> 00:40:15.010
Short for this Vertical Short movie, Agent of Shadows. It
1017
00:40:15.030 --> 00:40:17.400
was filmed over three weeks. So it was pretty exciting
1018
00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:19.860
as well to get involved with that. So we have
1019
00:40:20.280 --> 00:40:22.860
three movies back to back, basically. Also, actually, I can
1020
00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:25.039
talk about this as well. I did a Disney Pixar
1021
00:40:25.079 --> 00:40:27.079
voiceover text, which is coming out soon, too.
1022
00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:27.780
Oh, dude.
1023
00:40:27.840 --> 00:40:28.860
It's been a busy six months.
1024
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:31.480
Dude, I think one of my dreams is being a
1025
00:40:31.500 --> 00:40:32.099
voice actor.
1026
00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:35.059
It is fun. Dude. Like, I got asked to do it,
1027
00:40:35.059 --> 00:40:36.739
and I wasn't sure if they were the right person
1028
00:40:36.780 --> 00:40:38.179
at first. I was like, how did you get my info?
1029
00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:41.579
But we worked on the deal again through the agents
1030
00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:44.480
and that. I went in. It was with Jared and
1031
00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:46.110
all the Pixar people, all the main people.
1032
00:40:46.139 --> 00:40:46.320
Yeah.
1033
00:40:46.659 --> 00:40:48.340
And they didn't tell me anything because I think it's
1034
00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:50.820
supposed to be secret. The character's on the wall. And
1035
00:40:50.860 --> 00:40:53.409
we talked about it. I felt like my voice wasn't
1036
00:40:53.429 --> 00:40:55.710
the voice, so I had fun with it. And I
1037
00:40:55.730 --> 00:40:58.550
think they were kind of surprised. We're such improvers in wrestling,
1038
00:40:58.570 --> 00:40:59.710
so I had a lot of improv, a lot of
1039
00:40:59.730 --> 00:41:02.269
feedback from them. I was making the voices. I was
1040
00:41:02.349 --> 00:41:05.510
upside down in the microphone. I was all over the place.
1041
00:41:05.530 --> 00:41:08.190
I had so much fun. And then Jared had said,
1042
00:41:08.210 --> 00:41:09.909
have you thought about doing this? I was like, well,
1043
00:41:09.969 --> 00:41:13.170
you're Disney. Anything else is a step down. So call
1044
00:41:13.210 --> 00:41:14.550
me if you've got something for me. But it was
1045
00:41:14.590 --> 00:41:15.769
a lot of fun. Yeah.
1046
00:41:16.750 --> 00:41:18.610
So the real short thing is it's like vertical. So
1047
00:41:18.650 --> 00:41:22.829
these are, I've heard about these like happening a lot more.
1048
00:41:22.849 --> 00:41:24.710
I guess Hollywood has been doing a lot more of
1049
00:41:24.730 --> 00:41:25.630
these like vertical.
1050
00:41:25.650 --> 00:41:27.570
It's a billion dollar business. Once I got told about
1051
00:41:27.590 --> 00:41:29.349
it when I was in Spain, I researched it and
1052
00:41:29.369 --> 00:41:31.809
I was blown away. Like this is a billion dollar industry.
1053
00:41:31.829 --> 00:41:34.789
The amount of hours that are consumed by people is incredible,
1054
00:41:34.849 --> 00:41:37.190
but it makes sense, especially the younger generation. Their faces
1055
00:41:37.230 --> 00:41:39.699
are on their phones the whole time and they're easy
1056
00:41:39.719 --> 00:41:43.219
to watch. I actually was watching a couple when I
1057
00:41:43.219 --> 00:41:45.219
was going back and forth on the flights to Scotland
1058
00:41:45.260 --> 00:41:48.230
and Spain. There was one in particular I couldn't stop watching.
1059
00:41:48.449 --> 00:41:51.900
Like a freaking dad had broke up with his wife
1060
00:41:52.139 --> 00:41:54.960
who had a daughter. But the dad was the really
1061
00:41:55.099 --> 00:41:57.440
nice guy and the wife was kind of evil. It's whatever.
1062
00:41:57.480 --> 00:41:59.639
But then the daughter was super evil and she was like,
1063
00:41:59.699 --> 00:42:01.800
give him the money, dad. Just such a piece of
1064
00:42:01.840 --> 00:42:04.329
crap daughter. And I couldn't stop watching this vertical chart.
1065
00:42:04.429 --> 00:42:05.949
And I was like, all right, it's one of those.
1066
00:42:06.030 --> 00:42:09.690
And I'm speaking with Ben Houser from WWE who's behind
1067
00:42:09.730 --> 00:42:12.750
it with Real Short. I was like, wow, this character
1068
00:42:12.789 --> 00:42:15.530
sounds great. It's very much a Q character. the lead
1069
00:42:15.570 --> 00:42:18.349
characters james bond yeah and i think they got a
1070
00:42:18.389 --> 00:42:19.690
lot of a lot of fun with this but they
1071
00:42:19.710 --> 00:42:21.820
were putting a lot of money into it as well
1072
00:42:22.030 --> 00:42:24.900
and uh chase that plays the the lead character adam
1073
00:42:24.920 --> 00:42:27.659
the james bond type like he's been in it since
1074
00:42:27.659 --> 00:42:28.880
2019 he's watched how big it got and he said
1075
00:42:28.900 --> 00:42:30.780
this is the biggest one by far we filmed in
1076
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:32.840
the the hollywood hills one of the houses out here
1077
00:42:32.860 --> 00:42:38.079
um we filmed in the biltmore hotel and we filmed
1078
00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:40.610
uh like my lair is like a bat cave as
1079
00:42:40.630 --> 00:42:41.989
well and that's just a few of the sets i
1080
00:42:42.050 --> 00:42:44.349
saw there was multiple different sets everybody did a great
1081
00:42:44.389 --> 00:42:45.889
job a lot of our wrestles were on there and
1082
00:42:45.909 --> 00:42:47.590
i thought they did just a great job with the
1083
00:42:47.809 --> 00:42:50.510
action but with the acting sequences as well so i'm
1084
00:42:50.550 --> 00:42:52.550
excited for people to see and how quick they turned
1085
00:42:52.570 --> 00:42:55.110
things around in that world blew my mind but the
1086
00:42:55.139 --> 00:42:56.949
quality was still incredible.
1087
00:42:56.760 --> 00:42:58.760
Yeah so you're gonna do are you gonna do more
1088
00:42:58.780 --> 00:43:02.400
stuff like that or more stuff uh um like actual.
1089
00:43:02.380 --> 00:43:05.579
Screen guess it just depends what what opportunities are there
1090
00:43:05.619 --> 00:43:07.320
like i've had a very clear vision in my head
1091
00:43:07.699 --> 00:43:09.420
once i started doing this because i didn't plan to
1092
00:43:09.460 --> 00:43:11.519
do it and now i see it as if something
1093
00:43:11.539 --> 00:43:14.059
comes along that's fun like that i can see myself
1094
00:43:14.099 --> 00:43:15.840
hey this is going to challenge me and push me
1095
00:43:16.099 --> 00:43:17.980
and it's going to be worth taking time away from
1096
00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:20.000
wrestling because wrestling is my number one wwe is my
1097
00:43:20.039 --> 00:43:22.559
home but if this is going to be like not
1098
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:26.360
big angry man number five because i'm six five and
1099
00:43:26.420 --> 00:43:29.360
yeah yeah six five and a half exactly Yeah, you're.
1100
00:43:29.239 --> 00:43:31.559
Fucking tall as fuck, bro. I was talking about it
1101
00:43:31.599 --> 00:43:32.619
earlier before we got on here.
1102
00:43:33.050 --> 00:43:35.130
I was actually surprised because I've seen a lot of
1103
00:43:35.150 --> 00:43:37.030
the wrestlers in real life because I've gone to events.
1104
00:43:37.789 --> 00:43:39.489
And I was like, I see the guys and I'll
1105
00:43:39.530 --> 00:43:41.429
like look up their weight and their height and they're like,
1106
00:43:41.590 --> 00:43:43.929
they're not, I don't know, maybe they fluff.
1107
00:43:43.750 --> 00:43:45.369
It up a little bit. But then when I met you,
1108
00:43:45.429 --> 00:43:45.849
I was like.
1109
00:43:46.769 --> 00:43:49.730
Yeah, I'm the only one they under exaggerate. Like historically
1110
00:43:49.750 --> 00:43:52.449
in wrestling, everybody's had their weights and heights jacked right up.
1111
00:43:53.139 --> 00:43:54.679
And it's not as bad as it used to be.
1112
00:43:54.940 --> 00:43:57.300
Back in the day, they'd exaggerate heights by five inches
1113
00:43:57.360 --> 00:44:00.179
and like 50 pounds and stuff. But the guys now,
1114
00:44:00.199 --> 00:44:02.780
I have to go to the ring announcer constantly and say, hey,
1115
00:44:02.820 --> 00:44:06.440
I'm not 265, I'm 275. When I go back, I'm
1116
00:44:06.480 --> 00:44:08.170
going to have to go, I'm no longer 275, I'm 285.
1117
00:44:08.139 --> 00:44:09.929
At least say my real weight. If you want to
1118
00:44:09.969 --> 00:44:11.860
say 300 pounds, that'd be nice too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1119
00:44:12.530 --> 00:44:13.730
Yeah, you're fucking huge, bro.
1120
00:44:13.750 --> 00:44:15.780
When I wear my boots, when I wrestle, I'm 6'7.
1121
00:44:15.789 --> 00:44:18.610
So anybody that's saying they're 6'5, and they're really 6'2,
1122
00:44:18.650 --> 00:44:21.610
they look freaking stupid. I look seven foot tall because
1123
00:44:21.690 --> 00:44:23.429
I always go face to face with people because that's,
1124
00:44:23.869 --> 00:44:25.630
you know, it's very visual business. And I have to
1125
00:44:25.670 --> 00:44:27.400
let the audience know and take a moment to go,
1126
00:44:27.420 --> 00:44:29.480
my God, Drew's freaking huge. And I will look down
1127
00:44:29.559 --> 00:44:31.380
on them. And I get told off one time, I
1128
00:44:31.380 --> 00:44:33.199
won't say any names of who was in there. I
1129
00:44:33.199 --> 00:44:35.639
was on my knee in a match. And then I
1130
00:44:36.219 --> 00:44:39.280
stood up and one of the people backstage said, please
1131
00:44:39.300 --> 00:44:40.969
don't do that again. You made them look like a
1132
00:44:41.070 --> 00:44:41.750
short fat bloke.
1133
00:44:42.710 --> 00:44:43.429
Oh my God.
1134
00:44:43.449 --> 00:44:45.949
I would say the ends of stuff, but I was like, okay,
1135
00:44:45.969 --> 00:44:49.050
fair enough. But you know, whatever. Get yourself in shape.
1136
00:44:49.440 --> 00:44:52.760
Is, uh, cause kind of, I guess, well, I'll get
1137
00:44:52.780 --> 00:44:56.139
into this question, but, um, the beef like with CM Punk,
1138
00:44:56.219 --> 00:44:58.699
is that, is any of that stuff ever feel real?
1139
00:44:59.019 --> 00:45:00.030
Feel real. It's real.
1140
00:45:00.360 --> 00:45:01.949
But like off camera.
1141
00:45:02.269 --> 00:45:03.909
Oh yeah, he's a piece of crap. I avoid him
1142
00:45:03.989 --> 00:45:06.469
whenever I can avoid him. Like it's like any job, like.
1143
00:45:07.090 --> 00:45:08.769
I've seen him at my gym a few times training.
1144
00:45:08.789 --> 00:45:10.289
Oh yeah. And does he's friendly? Does he go around
1145
00:45:10.309 --> 00:45:11.769
talking to people or does he say, get away from
1146
00:45:11.789 --> 00:45:12.590
me while I'm working out?
1147
00:45:13.179 --> 00:45:14.010
He's pretty friendly to me.
1148
00:45:14.429 --> 00:45:16.170
Oh, I'm sure it's really you. You've got platform where
1149
00:45:16.190 --> 00:45:17.710
you can talk about being a piece of crap, but
1150
00:45:17.730 --> 00:45:19.409
I'm on your platform and I can tell everybody he's
1151
00:45:19.449 --> 00:45:20.349
a genuine piece of crap.
1152
00:45:20.449 --> 00:45:21.530
No, like in real life.
1153
00:45:21.750 --> 00:45:23.530
Oh, yeah. Like, I mean, he tries to play now.
1154
00:45:23.610 --> 00:45:25.590
He's different. He's better at hiding it now than he
1155
00:45:25.630 --> 00:45:27.670
used to be. Like back in the day, everybody can
1156
00:45:27.710 --> 00:45:30.050
stand him. He was so full of himself. Like so
1157
00:45:30.070 --> 00:45:32.059
many people worked hard to get him in a prominent position.
1158
00:45:32.079 --> 00:45:34.900
Then he left the company, screwed everybody over that lost
1159
00:45:34.960 --> 00:45:36.980
for him, gave him this big name, just walked out
1160
00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:37.340
of the company.
1161
00:45:37.360 --> 00:45:38.739
Wait, so you genuinely feel this way?
1162
00:45:38.840 --> 00:45:40.619
Oh, yeah. Can't stand him. It's like you have to
1163
00:45:40.679 --> 00:45:42.039
work with people you don't like, right? I mean, you've
1164
00:45:42.059 --> 00:45:43.360
got your own business. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can fire
1165
00:45:43.400 --> 00:45:46.179
people you don't like. but I can't. I've got writers
1166
00:45:46.199 --> 00:45:48.079
telling me you're working with that guy. And I'm like,
1167
00:45:48.099 --> 00:45:50.030
all right, I can't stand him, but I know he's
1168
00:45:50.130 --> 00:45:52.570
very good at his job. Like I can be professional.
1169
00:45:52.590 --> 00:45:54.300
I'm very good at my job. You put us together,
1170
00:45:54.320 --> 00:45:56.559
you've got, You don't have to find the real in it.
1171
00:45:57.059 --> 00:45:59.900
He doesn't like me. I can't stand him. He put
1172
00:45:59.920 --> 00:46:02.369
us together. It's magic for the audience, but also we
1173
00:46:02.409 --> 00:46:04.170
have to be professional and not pan each other. When
1174
00:46:04.210 --> 00:46:05.989
I say we pan each other's heads, I would murder him.
1175
00:46:06.010 --> 00:46:07.789
You see, when UFC, it would look like that if
1176
00:46:07.829 --> 00:46:10.590
it got real in there. Oh, shit.
1177
00:46:10.630 --> 00:46:12.360
So you're like, for sure, in real life, you got him.
1178
00:46:12.570 --> 00:46:13.079
Oh, I can't stand him.
1179
00:46:13.150 --> 00:46:13.730
Oh, for real life?
1180
00:46:14.179 --> 00:46:15.619
I don't care if I have any jiu-jitsu lessons. You
1181
00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:17.739
know the guys that tell me, like, yeah, my bro,
1182
00:46:17.760 --> 00:46:20.139
did you fight for the UFC? No, shut up. I said,
1183
00:46:20.159 --> 00:46:23.260
I will crush you. I'm giant and Scottish and there
1184
00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:26.239
are many fights happening. You're a savage, bro. There's guys
1185
00:46:26.260 --> 00:46:28.539
that are like, hey, man, you got a choke slamming?
1186
00:46:28.559 --> 00:46:29.840
You got a tombstone? I was like, no, I'm going
1187
00:46:29.909 --> 00:46:32.230
to punch her. I say the C word in with
1188
00:46:32.269 --> 00:46:35.269
a thick Scottish accent. Oh, Jesus, he's a psycho. Yeah,
1189
00:46:35.289 --> 00:46:37.690
I am. Don't push me. But no, yeah, I can't
1190
00:46:37.710 --> 00:46:39.510
stand him. He's a genuine piece of crap. Good at
1191
00:46:39.550 --> 00:46:42.659
hiding it these days. You know, playing the corporate. corporate
1192
00:46:42.880 --> 00:46:44.820
kind of roll backstage or whatever because he knows he's
1193
00:46:44.840 --> 00:46:46.679
got nowhere else to go he's burned his bridges everywhere
1194
00:46:46.699 --> 00:46:48.610
this is his last chance to stay in wrestling so
1195
00:46:48.639 --> 00:46:50.969
he has to be nice to everybody but behind those
1196
00:46:51.110 --> 00:46:53.250
eyes he's crying because he just wants to be a
1197
00:46:53.409 --> 00:46:58.630
dick non-stop very Charles Manson like holy shit just talks
1198
00:46:58.670 --> 00:47:00.800
to the audience convinces him he's such a good guy
1199
00:47:01.090 --> 00:47:03.340
they buy into his BS even though this is why
1200
00:47:03.400 --> 00:47:05.039
I went down the route I went down and thankfully
1201
00:47:05.219 --> 00:47:07.360
you know our creative team and Hunter Levy do this
1202
00:47:07.699 --> 00:47:11.340
we're appointed out criminology degree beyond reasonable doubt you're guilty
1203
00:47:11.909 --> 00:47:14.010
I'm like, on the front of the live crowd, like, guys,
1204
00:47:14.070 --> 00:47:16.230
just please go on the internet and look at my
1205
00:47:16.389 --> 00:47:20.170
character witness reports where everyone says, nice guy, really nice guy,
1206
00:47:20.570 --> 00:47:23.389
and take a, just Google CM Punk, what's he like
1207
00:47:23.449 --> 00:47:25.960
in real life, and he is a terrible human. Just
1208
00:47:26.000 --> 00:47:28.239
do that for me while you're booing me and cheering him,
1209
00:47:28.280 --> 00:47:30.519
and I'm your guy. So this is the kind of
1210
00:47:30.539 --> 00:47:31.699
stuff I have to deal with, and people think I'm
1211
00:47:31.719 --> 00:47:33.780
a bad guy. I'm not a bad guy. I didn't change.
1212
00:47:33.820 --> 00:47:36.420
The audience changed. Four people that are pieces of crap.
1213
00:47:36.659 --> 00:47:38.260
Four people that just want to be famous. Like, a
1214
00:47:38.280 --> 00:47:41.320
lot of things I see now, these TikToks and was
1215
00:47:41.360 --> 00:47:43.199
it called twitches and whatever i'm like if you thought
1216
00:47:43.219 --> 00:47:44.840
i'd be getting good at wrestling first and then doing
1217
00:47:44.860 --> 00:47:47.320
that stuff before i did the movie stuff i got
1218
00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:49.929
good at the wrestling first i used the platform to
1219
00:47:49.969 --> 00:47:52.610
get famous i just it's a side effect of being
1220
00:47:52.650 --> 00:47:55.670
on television because you love wrestling or you should love wrestling.
1221
00:47:55.670 --> 00:47:57.849
Yeah so you think he's gone about it the other
1222
00:47:57.889 --> 00:47:58.469
way where it's.
1223
00:47:58.429 --> 00:48:00.289
Like no no he loved it it's not him with
1224
00:48:00.329 --> 00:48:01.469
with that one he's just a piece of crap he
1225
00:48:01.510 --> 00:48:03.289
loves wrestling yeah just a genuine piece of crap who
1226
00:48:03.329 --> 00:48:05.550
happens to be talented and charles manson like i'm talking
1227
00:48:05.570 --> 00:48:08.340
about more of the newer generation i'm Maybe focus on your,
1228
00:48:08.619 --> 00:48:10.099
you know, love of the game and getting good at
1229
00:48:10.139 --> 00:48:11.219
wrestling first before.
1230
00:48:11.460 --> 00:48:14.469
Instead of just trying to get popular.
1231
00:48:15.179 --> 00:48:18.190
The horse before the cart or whatever. Yeah. The expression
1232
00:48:18.269 --> 00:48:21.170
is just maybe focus on maybe get good at this thing.
1233
00:48:21.210 --> 00:48:23.050
And you can tell when someone doesn't love it truly
1234
00:48:23.070 --> 00:48:25.110
because they take about a year of giving it, giving
1235
00:48:25.130 --> 00:48:27.090
it their all. And then they're just, and then they're
1236
00:48:27.110 --> 00:48:29.280
talking about things like going to Hollywood or.
1237
00:48:30.019 --> 00:48:30.800
I see what you're saying.
1238
00:48:30.820 --> 00:48:33.119
Music stuff, whatever. I was like, maybe focus on this first,
1239
00:48:33.300 --> 00:48:35.309
and then worry about all the other stuff. Again, I
1240
00:48:35.309 --> 00:48:37.289
never thought about anything but this, and I don't think
1241
00:48:37.309 --> 00:48:39.449
about anything but this, and the other stuff will come
1242
00:48:39.710 --> 00:48:42.429
once you get good at this one thing.
1243
00:48:42.809 --> 00:48:44.949
That's why you think you got it, this singular focus.
1244
00:48:45.110 --> 00:48:47.190
This is all you wanted. I guess that's the best
1245
00:48:47.210 --> 00:48:47.840
way to summarize.
1246
00:48:47.880 --> 00:48:51.000
I'm very limited. If you're going to get good at something,
1247
00:48:51.059 --> 00:48:53.940
keep that singular focus, and eventually the other stuff will come.
1248
00:48:53.980 --> 00:48:55.579
Your other passions will come, but you have to have
1249
00:48:55.599 --> 00:48:58.019
the passion for this. especially how long we're on the
1250
00:48:58.059 --> 00:49:00.219
road how often we're on tv the stresses that come
1251
00:49:00.260 --> 00:49:02.260
with it but you have to have that passion or
1252
00:49:02.300 --> 00:49:04.449
eventually it's going to be obvious you don't care and
1253
00:49:04.469 --> 00:49:06.570
you're going to be out the door i've lasted yeah
1254
00:49:06.570 --> 00:49:10.349
26 years 20 years in america i am at the
1255
00:49:10.389 --> 00:49:12.849
top level because at the core i freaking love it.
1256
00:49:13.190 --> 00:49:16.429
Yeah so okay, we talked about CM Punk.
1257
00:49:16.590 --> 00:49:20.570
Who would people be surprised that you would think is
1258
00:49:20.610 --> 00:49:21.650
a really good person?
1259
00:49:22.889 --> 00:49:25.639
Like, in wrestling and off camera?
1260
00:49:27.699 --> 00:49:30.940
Who would people be surprised? There's a lot of good people. Like,
1261
00:49:31.699 --> 00:49:32.239
that's one thing.
1262
00:49:33.219 --> 00:49:35.280
Who stands out the most that you're like, you really
1263
00:49:35.300 --> 00:49:36.530
enjoy either working with or.
1264
00:49:42.260 --> 00:49:44.429
specific name i will say in the past when i
1265
00:49:44.469 --> 00:49:46.750
first started and it had all the kind of legends
1266
00:49:46.809 --> 00:49:49.409
still going and a lot of talent aren't there anymore
1267
00:49:49.429 --> 00:49:53.610
i mean i first such a fucking legendary like triple
1268
00:49:53.630 --> 00:49:55.710
h was full-time rick flair was still full-time when i
1269
00:49:55.730 --> 00:49:58.510
first started he was actually on the active roster and.
1270
00:49:58.369 --> 00:50:01.659
You you you really have a unique like time span
1271
00:50:01.699 --> 00:50:01.960
in it.
1272
00:50:02.039 --> 00:50:04.219
Oh yeah but that period it was like the legends
1273
00:50:04.239 --> 00:50:06.260
were still there the legends of legends were still there
1274
00:50:06.300 --> 00:50:09.079
yeah but the younger guys, not these guys, like I'm naming,
1275
00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:10.900
they were comfortable in their position. They know who they
1276
00:50:10.940 --> 00:50:13.079
were and they did their job, but the other guys
1277
00:50:13.119 --> 00:50:15.019
are like, that should be me in that spot, whatever.
1278
00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:17.139
They were genuinely out to get you, stabbing you in
1279
00:50:17.159 --> 00:50:19.889
the back, crap talking to you. That doesn't happen so
1280
00:50:19.929 --> 00:50:21.449
much or really doesn't happen anymore.
1281
00:50:21.809 --> 00:50:22.070
Yeah.
1282
00:50:22.090 --> 00:50:23.670
Okay. At a certain level, it will at the very
1283
00:50:23.710 --> 00:50:26.510
tippy top, but rest of the time, everyone is generally
1284
00:50:26.530 --> 00:50:28.889
a good person now. And if they're not again, they'll get,
1285
00:50:29.230 --> 00:50:31.789
you know, talk to, or can't be anyone up anymore.
1286
00:50:31.809 --> 00:50:32.429
It's a problem.
1287
00:50:32.449 --> 00:50:33.360
It used to be.
1288
00:50:33.429 --> 00:50:35.440
Back in the day, you dealt with things backstage. It's
1289
00:50:35.480 --> 00:50:37.449
a neutral problem now. If you, People really got in
1290
00:50:37.489 --> 00:50:38.309
tussles backstage?
1291
00:50:38.590 --> 00:50:40.469
Oh, yeah. Off camera. Yeah, it would never be on
1292
00:50:40.489 --> 00:50:41.909
the internet. Now, if you did it, it'd be on
1293
00:50:41.929 --> 00:50:44.690
the internet instantly and handling issues. But it really doesn't
1294
00:50:44.750 --> 00:50:49.239
happen that often anymore. People generally get along now, or
1295
00:50:49.300 --> 00:50:52.860
unless it's punk or whatever, professionally get along where you
1296
00:50:52.900 --> 00:50:54.599
have to. But back in the day, it was a
1297
00:50:54.639 --> 00:50:56.480
lot different. So that's why it's hard to single someone
1298
00:50:56.539 --> 00:50:58.739
out because everybody pretty much now is a good person,
1299
00:50:58.780 --> 00:51:01.000
especially the ones that came from... I have issues with
1300
00:51:01.019 --> 00:51:03.679
people from certain wrestling families, but the ones that came
1301
00:51:03.760 --> 00:51:06.630
from the wrestling families are very respectful, et cetera, backstage,
1302
00:51:06.730 --> 00:51:09.190
because they came from that world. That's how their families
1303
00:51:09.210 --> 00:51:11.289
always made the money, and they have great respect for
1304
00:51:11.309 --> 00:51:13.690
the business, even if I can't stand some of them. Yeah.
1305
00:51:14.110 --> 00:51:16.190
Who do you think your favorite wrestler is of all
1306
00:51:16.230 --> 00:51:17.010
time that's not you?
1307
00:51:18.610 --> 00:51:21.860
Bret the Hitman Hart was my guy growing up. Yeah.
1308
00:51:21.880 --> 00:51:24.119
I mean, every time he gets an interview now, he's
1309
00:51:24.139 --> 00:51:26.059
always saying something horrible about somebody, but he always says
1310
00:51:26.099 --> 00:51:29.230
nice things about me, and he was my favorite growing up. Yeah.
1311
00:51:29.489 --> 00:51:31.590
I just remember like fucking suck it.
1312
00:51:31.690 --> 00:51:34.440
Oh, dude. Say it to the teachers and stuff. I've
1313
00:51:34.460 --> 00:51:36.440
told like Sean and Hunter. Yes, man. Like the amount
1314
00:51:36.500 --> 00:51:38.460
of times I got in trouble or detention because I
1315
00:51:38.480 --> 00:51:40.380
was telling my teachers and not really knowing what it meant.
1316
00:51:40.920 --> 00:51:42.860
And then a couple of years later, I went, oh no.
1317
00:51:43.619 --> 00:51:45.710
I just realized what I was saying to my teachers.
1318
00:51:46.030 --> 00:51:48.929
And wait a minute, Al Snow in Mannequin Head. That's
1319
00:51:48.949 --> 00:51:52.429
not Mannequin Head. Things that clicked when I got a
1320
00:51:52.449 --> 00:51:54.750
little older. I'm like, God, I'm shouting at people.
1321
00:51:56.360 --> 00:51:59.139
Dude, that era, that was so legendary, man.
1322
00:51:59.199 --> 00:52:02.619
Unbelievable. Every character was just so popular. The fans were
1323
00:52:02.639 --> 00:52:06.000
so rabid. And now, it's come back around. Everything's so
1324
00:52:06.019 --> 00:52:09.300
cyclical in this business. But wrestling has got so massive again. Huge.
1325
00:52:09.800 --> 00:52:12.750
Right now, it's crazy. Just to watch from 07 to now,
1326
00:52:12.849 --> 00:52:14.670
to see where... I was like, you can't possibly get
1327
00:52:14.710 --> 00:52:17.650
bigger than this. WrestleMania was the one stadium show a year. Now,
1328
00:52:17.690 --> 00:52:20.360
we do multiple stadium shows a year. all across the world,
1329
00:52:20.519 --> 00:52:20.980
different countries.
1330
00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:23.300
Yeah, that's the thing that I really, when I talk
1331
00:52:23.320 --> 00:52:25.400
to people who are in the space who are wrestlers,
1332
00:52:25.440 --> 00:52:27.139
who are like active, I'm like, how.
1333
00:52:27.050 --> 00:52:28.280
The fuck do you keep up with this shit?
1334
00:52:28.300 --> 00:52:30.829
Because it's like, they have so many sort of things
1335
00:52:30.849 --> 00:52:32.710
that they have to do on and off stage.
1336
00:52:33.369 --> 00:52:34.750
And then you got to get sleep. Then you got
1337
00:52:34.769 --> 00:52:35.989
to make sure you're training. Then you got to make
1338
00:52:36.030 --> 00:52:37.550
sure you're eating. Then you got to make sure you're.
1339
00:52:37.449 --> 00:52:38.889
Showing up to like rehearsal shit.
1340
00:52:38.909 --> 00:52:40.570
And you're like practicing everything.
1341
00:52:40.590 --> 00:52:42.949
It's like, how do you, how do you balance all that?
1342
00:52:43.010 --> 00:52:46.019
Unless it's a stunt practice stunts, but it comes to
1343
00:52:46.039 --> 00:52:48.380
the matches. Like you should know what you're doing. We
1344
00:52:48.400 --> 00:52:50.610
can talk about it a bit. You've got 10 minutes,
1345
00:52:50.650 --> 00:52:52.349
you've got 15 minutes, you've got 20 minutes. Go out
1346
00:52:52.389 --> 00:52:55.670
there and listen to the crowd and wrestle. I can't
1347
00:52:55.690 --> 00:52:57.739
stand when people plan stuff from beginning to end because
1348
00:52:57.760 --> 00:52:58.820
you don't know how the crowd's going to react. What
1349
00:52:58.840 --> 00:53:00.760
if you plan out this choreographed match and you walk
1350
00:53:00.820 --> 00:53:02.300
out there and the crowd are just sitting on their hands?
1351
00:53:02.320 --> 00:53:05.420
They're like, huh, but they liked it in Chicago last week. Yeah,
1352
00:53:05.440 --> 00:53:08.280
because then you're probably like, I don't know.
1353
00:53:08.219 --> 00:53:10.070
What to do when they don't get the right reaction then.
1354
00:53:10.510 --> 00:53:13.550
Yeah, maybe they've not learned how to improvise in the moment.
1355
00:53:14.019 --> 00:53:16.280
and sometimes, like, a lot of people are good at listening,
1356
00:53:16.320 --> 00:53:18.239
but some people panic, and it's not fun if you're
1357
00:53:18.260 --> 00:53:20.820
on live TV, and somebody panics, and you're talking to them, like, hey,
1358
00:53:20.840 --> 00:53:22.719
this ain't working, we're going to go this direction now,
1359
00:53:23.219 --> 00:53:24.929
and they kind of freeze up, and that's when things
1360
00:53:25.030 --> 00:53:27.050
look choppy, and not choppy in the good way, I
1361
00:53:27.190 --> 00:53:29.070
like if it looks kind of, makes it look real,
1362
00:53:29.210 --> 00:53:30.769
if it's kind of choppy, and you get really physical
1363
00:53:30.789 --> 00:53:32.650
with each other, but if things start messing up in
1364
00:53:32.670 --> 00:53:35.869
an obvious way, it is not good, if there's a miscommunication,
1365
00:53:35.929 --> 00:53:37.820
or somebody trying to tell the other person, let's go
1366
00:53:37.860 --> 00:53:40.980
this direction, and they're not quite ready, and I mean,
1367
00:53:41.000 --> 00:53:43.000
things are different now. We don't have as many non-televised
1368
00:53:43.019 --> 00:53:45.380
shows now as we used to where people can practice
1369
00:53:45.719 --> 00:53:47.639
the game. And there is more now. People are getting
1370
00:53:47.679 --> 00:53:50.619
their reps in. And the talent are finding their feet,
1371
00:53:50.639 --> 00:53:53.460
especially the younger talent. But we're on a spot now
1372
00:53:53.739 --> 00:53:56.409
with all the eyeballs on us with Netflix and ESPN
1373
00:53:56.449 --> 00:53:59.570
and the billions of social media views and doing shows
1374
00:53:59.769 --> 00:54:02.210
like yourself. Like, if you're on the TV show, I
1375
00:54:02.250 --> 00:54:04.130
expect you to be at a certain level. Or if
1376
00:54:04.190 --> 00:54:05.590
I'm in the ring with you, I will beat you
1377
00:54:05.610 --> 00:54:06.849
up for real if you're making me look bad. LAUGHTER
1378
00:54:08.420 --> 00:54:08.920
I'm not joking.
1379
00:54:09.280 --> 00:54:11.170
I believe you. I believe it.
1380
00:54:11.960 --> 00:54:15.940
Yeah, so to someone who wants to be a part
1381
00:54:16.550 --> 00:54:18.780
of the WWE, who wants to succeed at a high
1382
00:54:18.820 --> 00:54:20.119
level now, what do you think it requires?
1383
00:54:21.869 --> 00:54:24.530
Everything. There's a rock quote I use all the time.
1384
00:54:24.570 --> 00:54:28.500
I've told him this. And I've done some projects with him.
1385
00:54:28.510 --> 00:54:32.550
I was a face of Project Rock for a minute.
1386
00:54:32.630 --> 00:54:37.000
But he said, all it takes is all you got. Like,
1387
00:54:37.159 --> 00:54:39.449
if you want to get into this, give it everything
1388
00:54:39.469 --> 00:54:42.449
you possibly can and the rewards will be anything you
1389
00:54:42.469 --> 00:54:44.610
possibly can imagine. You don't even know some of the
1390
00:54:44.630 --> 00:54:46.650
rewards that might come from it because the industry is
1391
00:54:46.710 --> 00:54:48.949
so incredible. If you're trying to get into it, you've
1392
00:54:48.969 --> 00:54:50.769
got to find a reputable school for one. If you
1393
00:54:50.789 --> 00:54:54.110
don't have it in, find a reputable school that the
1394
00:54:54.230 --> 00:54:57.500
trainers have had good careers themselves, that produce quality students
1395
00:54:57.519 --> 00:54:59.000
because a lot of people are stealing money out there
1396
00:54:59.019 --> 00:55:01.530
and training people wrong. and hurting people out there. So
1397
00:55:01.570 --> 00:55:03.469
that's phase one. Then you've got to get the reps in,
1398
00:55:03.510 --> 00:55:05.550
and then you've got to figure out, looking at the landscape,
1399
00:55:05.610 --> 00:55:08.090
what's going to separate me from everybody else. There's a
1400
00:55:08.130 --> 00:55:10.449
lot of television shows now, a lot of different companies,
1401
00:55:10.690 --> 00:55:13.530
WWE being head and shoulders above everyone, of course, but
1402
00:55:13.570 --> 00:55:15.610
what's going to make you stand out? A lot of
1403
00:55:15.650 --> 00:55:17.510
flyers out there, you're trying to do all these high-flying
1404
00:55:17.530 --> 00:55:19.269
moves that can do it a lot better than you.
1405
00:55:19.289 --> 00:55:21.269
So unless you're as good as some of these crazy
1406
00:55:21.289 --> 00:55:23.730
high flyers, the Dragon Leagues of the world, et cetera,
1407
00:55:23.750 --> 00:55:27.199
which I imagine you're probably not, and you're one injury
1408
00:55:27.239 --> 00:55:29.280
away from that if that's your thing you get hurt
1409
00:55:29.300 --> 00:55:30.960
your knee boom your career is over you got to
1410
00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:32.460
find that character you got to find what's going to
1411
00:55:32.480 --> 00:55:35.099
make you connect with the audience what is that character
1412
00:55:35.159 --> 00:55:37.719
trait you don't all have to be my size anymore
1413
00:55:37.860 --> 00:55:39.429
used to be everyone was kind of larger than life
1414
00:55:40.030 --> 00:55:42.090
you can be different shapes and sizes but what is
1415
00:55:42.130 --> 00:55:43.929
it going to make what's going to make you stand
1416
00:55:43.989 --> 00:55:45.829
out from everybody else what's going to make you say
1417
00:55:45.969 --> 00:55:50.769
oh he's different and there's a million different things and
1418
00:55:50.829 --> 00:55:53.630
a million different characters but there's always something that's never
1419
00:55:53.650 --> 00:55:55.940
been done I always get excited when I see something
1420
00:55:55.960 --> 00:55:57.239
I've never seen before. Yeah.
1421
00:55:57.280 --> 00:55:58.639
That reminds me of social media.
1422
00:55:58.679 --> 00:56:00.780
You seen him? What's that? He's in Dan House and
1423
00:56:00.800 --> 00:56:02.889
like one of our characters, he's like the little, he's
1424
00:56:02.909 --> 00:56:04.250
got the makeup on. He kind of looks like a
1425
00:56:04.289 --> 00:56:06.849
Dracula looking guy. Yeah. And he's just suddenly all these,
1426
00:56:06.929 --> 00:56:08.570
he's like a mascot for all these sports teams. He's
1427
00:56:08.610 --> 00:56:10.449
doing these little funny segments on the show. Like I've
1428
00:56:10.469 --> 00:56:11.710
never seen anything like that. And I was like, wow,
1429
00:56:11.730 --> 00:56:13.349
look at this guy here. Just by being different, he's
1430
00:56:13.389 --> 00:56:15.849
on everything. He's literally over ESPN and all over the place.
1431
00:56:16.869 --> 00:56:18.869
That's the same exact thing I tell people on social
1432
00:56:18.889 --> 00:56:21.110
media because everyone wants to like get into it somehow.
1433
00:56:21.639 --> 00:56:24.050
It's just like, people know their complaint is always, Oh,
1434
00:56:24.070 --> 00:56:24.969
it's so oversaturated.
1435
00:56:24.989 --> 00:56:25.659
Everyone does it.
1436
00:56:26.210 --> 00:56:29.750
But no matter what, it's like, okay, but you like,
1437
00:56:29.889 --> 00:56:31.550
who are you really? And like, what do you really
1438
00:56:31.590 --> 00:56:33.730
want to show off or what's like unique about you?
1439
00:56:33.769 --> 00:56:36.590
That's the thing that not everyone has. It's just learning
1440
00:56:36.630 --> 00:56:38.659
how to like figure that out, which can be very hard.
1441
00:56:38.800 --> 00:56:41.380
Obviously. If you're just, if you admire somebody, if someone's
1442
00:56:41.420 --> 00:56:43.619
just trying to be a second rate version of somebody else,
1443
00:56:43.699 --> 00:56:45.440
or you just give a second rate version, that's what
1444
00:56:45.460 --> 00:56:48.099
happens a lot. Like just be your true self. Cause
1445
00:56:48.139 --> 00:56:50.519
nobody's you be the first you. Yeah.
1446
00:56:51.469 --> 00:56:52.530
Had you ever struggled with that?
1447
00:56:52.960 --> 00:56:57.579
Oh yeah. I tried to replicate so many people and, uh,
1448
00:56:57.619 --> 00:56:59.760
like wrestles I admired when I was younger. And even
1449
00:56:59.800 --> 00:57:01.500
like some of the voices I put on, he's playing
1450
00:57:01.519 --> 00:57:03.739
a stupid wrestler voice when I was younger all the time.
1451
00:57:03.760 --> 00:57:05.019
And I wasn't even that long ago. I was still
1452
00:57:05.059 --> 00:57:07.519
doing it. It's embarrassing. I've seen clips of myself and
1453
00:57:07.539 --> 00:57:08.880
like half the time I think I'm doing a triple
1454
00:57:09.039 --> 00:57:13.360
H like circa 2000, 2001. Cause like I was a
1455
00:57:13.599 --> 00:57:15.119
massive fan of like, he was a big bad guy
1456
00:57:15.139 --> 00:57:17.039
back then. He was so jacked, did the long hair and,
1457
00:57:17.619 --> 00:57:19.920
at the voice and stuff, which is his actual voice.
1458
00:57:19.969 --> 00:57:22.570
And I knew I was kind of subconsciously doing impressions
1459
00:57:22.630 --> 00:57:24.090
of him a lot, flicking the hair and stuff. And
1460
00:57:24.110 --> 00:57:25.989
I was like, yeah, I'm just ripping off Hunter completely.
1461
00:57:28.530 --> 00:57:31.250
And I eventually find my own voice and my own stuff. Yeah.
1462
00:57:31.269 --> 00:57:33.670
That dude, that, that era was so different.
1463
00:57:33.690 --> 00:57:35.409
Like, I don't know how much, I don't know if
1464
00:57:35.429 --> 00:57:37.380
you ever talk about this or not, but like the gear,
1465
00:57:37.559 --> 00:57:39.300
the gear usage, I don't know. It was just different
1466
00:57:39.320 --> 00:57:41.380
during that era. Or like people were just like, they
1467
00:57:41.400 --> 00:57:43.760
didn't care as much. And they just, everyone was just
1468
00:57:43.800 --> 00:57:44.500
like fucking.
1469
00:57:44.719 --> 00:57:45.019
Oh yeah.
1470
00:57:45.039 --> 00:57:45.199
Yeah.
1471
00:57:45.239 --> 00:57:48.880
There was no drug test. yeah yeah yeah back then.
1472
00:57:48.800 --> 00:57:51.860
It was like bro that's there was something so special
1473
00:57:51.880 --> 00:57:53.420
about that though i'm not saying.
1474
00:57:53.239 --> 00:57:55.739
We should go and do that again necessarily but yeah
1475
00:57:55.760 --> 00:57:58.260
there was a lot of like men like like proper
1476
00:57:58.340 --> 00:58:00.679
guy like wow that is a big man yeah he's
1477
00:58:00.719 --> 00:58:02.480
gonna kick the crap out you but not just physically
1478
00:58:02.519 --> 00:58:04.139
but just facially a lot of the guys you can
1479
00:58:04.159 --> 00:58:06.300
just see we're just hardened men yeah if you got
1480
00:58:06.320 --> 00:58:07.949
in a bar fight with them they would just kick
1481
00:58:07.989 --> 00:58:10.179
the absolute crap out of you there's a lot of
1482
00:58:10.219 --> 00:58:12.929
guys we have you can see like bad bad mfers
1483
00:58:12.949 --> 00:58:14.789
but there's also like a few a few boys that
1484
00:58:14.809 --> 00:58:17.409
need to figure out ways to toughen themselves up. Like
1485
00:58:17.429 --> 00:58:18.789
Hunter said the same thing to me when I was younger,
1486
00:58:18.869 --> 00:58:22.019
Abercrombie and Fitch, he was like, you wrestle so aggressive,
1487
00:58:22.099 --> 00:58:24.900
like a Seamus, like one of our other guys, looks
1488
00:58:24.920 --> 00:58:26.679
like a proper man, ginger, big beard.
1489
00:58:26.780 --> 00:58:27.420
Yeah, I know Seamus.
1490
00:58:27.440 --> 00:58:29.340
Yeah, so like he wrestles the same as you, but
1491
00:58:29.360 --> 00:58:31.019
he looks the part, you got to figure out what
1492
00:58:31.039 --> 00:58:33.380
it is. So that was where I'd started doing the cocky,
1493
00:58:33.900 --> 00:58:36.360
you know, kind of backing off stuff. I'd start adding that,
1494
00:58:36.480 --> 00:58:38.579
but then I developed into this. So now I match
1495
00:58:38.860 --> 00:58:42.989
how I wrestle. Right. Et cetera. But yeah, things are different.
1496
00:58:43.010 --> 00:58:45.750
We peen a couple of them. So you can't be
1497
00:58:45.769 --> 00:58:48.670
running about doing that. People are a lot healthier now.
1498
00:58:48.750 --> 00:58:52.139
Besides acting and besides wrestling, are there other projects that.
1499
00:58:52.099 --> 00:58:56.099
You are interested in? Like other, you know, creating brands
1500
00:58:56.139 --> 00:58:57.159
or creating other businesses?
1501
00:58:57.179 --> 00:59:00.139
I mean, yeah. I just don't quite know what it is.
1502
00:59:00.420 --> 00:59:03.119
My wife is always on me. As the agents are
1503
00:59:03.159 --> 00:59:06.050
as well. What is it you want to do? All
1504
00:59:06.070 --> 00:59:07.909
these things are fitness, et cetera. I just don't know
1505
00:59:07.929 --> 00:59:09.809
what that is. I've had some apps brought to me.
1506
00:59:10.389 --> 00:59:12.860
they're kind of interesting them okay that could be interesting
1507
00:59:12.929 --> 00:59:15.460
some supplement stuff i'm like oh it's a busy market
1508
00:59:15.500 --> 00:59:17.760
it would have to be something kind of special like
1509
00:59:17.780 --> 00:59:19.820
the face of things like i said in project rock
1510
00:59:19.840 --> 00:59:21.960
stuff like that i mean again just because it's dj's
1511
00:59:22.039 --> 00:59:24.880
one that was so incredible incredible to do but one's
1512
00:59:24.900 --> 00:59:26.579
of my own i need something to speak to me
1513
00:59:27.289 --> 00:59:29.309
And she, like she being the wife, keeps putting things
1514
00:59:29.369 --> 00:59:30.510
in front of me. What about this? What about this?
1515
00:59:30.530 --> 00:59:32.710
What about this? And I'm like, okay, I do my
1516
00:59:32.730 --> 00:59:34.360
dream job. I've wanted to do this since I was five.
1517
00:59:34.400 --> 00:59:36.059
And sometimes it drives me crazy. I don't want to
1518
00:59:36.099 --> 00:59:37.780
do something I don't want to do. And it drives
1519
00:59:37.800 --> 00:59:40.179
me crazy. That's fair. So it's just waiting for that
1520
00:59:40.280 --> 00:59:41.860
thing to speak to me. But right now there's a
1521
00:59:41.900 --> 00:59:44.059
lot coming at me. I see people constantly release songs
1522
00:59:44.679 --> 00:59:46.269
over talent. Some of them aren't very good. Maybe I'll
1523
00:59:46.289 --> 00:59:49.889
just do that. I can't be any worse. Nah, you
1524
00:59:49.929 --> 00:59:50.809
gotta want to do that.
1525
00:59:51.250 --> 00:59:52.750
I was gonna be like, what happened to that guy?
1526
00:59:53.380 --> 00:59:55.699
No, no, I'm just not sure yet, but it'll come
1527
00:59:55.719 --> 00:59:57.320
to me eventually. She's on me a lot, as I say,
1528
00:59:57.340 --> 00:59:58.599
the agents are on me a lot, and we'll find
1529
00:59:58.639 --> 01:00:00.400
the thing. I'm just so focused on the wrestling. I
1530
01:00:00.420 --> 01:00:03.380
just turned 41 three months ago. People seem to think
1531
01:00:03.460 --> 01:00:06.730
I'm like 48, 49, because I'm the same age as
1532
01:00:06.750 --> 01:00:10.050
Roman and the Usos and Cody, and Cody and I
1533
01:00:10.090 --> 01:00:13.210
are from the previous generation from Roman, so everyone assumes
1534
01:00:13.289 --> 01:00:14.929
we're a little bit older than we actually are. You
1535
01:00:14.949 --> 01:00:18.170
were just younger then. Yeah, Cody and I were literally 21,
1536
01:00:18.170 --> 01:00:20.780
22 when we first started on TV. We were there
1537
01:00:20.820 --> 01:00:22.849
for 20 years. They're like, oh, guys, like, you know,
1538
01:00:22.909 --> 01:00:26.539
you and, you know, AJ and Cena, guys that age.
1539
01:00:26.559 --> 01:00:26.960
I'm like, what the?
1540
01:00:27.380 --> 01:00:29.420
They're seven, eight years older than me, so I've still
1541
01:00:29.440 --> 01:00:29.840
got time.
1542
01:00:29.880 --> 01:00:30.519
Yeah, what the fuck?
1543
01:00:30.539 --> 01:00:32.119
Yeah, I've still got a few more years in the
1544
01:00:32.139 --> 01:00:35.179
wrestling first. And, like, I'm a Maze Punk, so there's
1545
01:00:35.239 --> 01:00:37.750
one thing I can compliment him on. he's 48 he's
1546
01:00:37.789 --> 01:00:39.610
still going and he got himself in better shape I
1547
01:00:39.630 --> 01:00:41.809
mean better shape for him let's not go crazy now
1548
01:00:41.829 --> 01:00:43.750
he doesn't look like me he's just better shape for
1549
01:00:43.789 --> 01:00:47.190
him so skinny so fat at the same time before
1550
01:00:47.250 --> 01:00:49.949
now he just got in alright shape everyone's like have
1551
01:00:50.190 --> 01:00:51.800
you seen the changes he looks so good I'm like
1552
01:00:51.820 --> 01:00:54.820
remember we're WWE like he's not like he's walking to Mr.
1553
01:00:54.840 --> 01:00:58.559
Olympia he's like if he walks onto Mr. Chicago the
1554
01:00:58.599 --> 01:01:03.380
local area that he lives in stage the punk shade.
1555
01:01:03.159 --> 01:01:05.760
Is so fucking funny you're funny man.
1556
01:01:06.630 --> 01:01:08.630
I hear that a lot. It's just not intentionally funny.
1557
01:01:08.650 --> 01:01:11.349
I just tell the truth. Yeah.
1558
01:01:12.250 --> 01:01:17.929
Well, I think the ace thing is, I mean, you're 41, right? Yeah. So,
1559
01:01:18.500 --> 01:01:22.920
I mean, you've maintained a good physique, like a great physique.
1560
01:01:23.000 --> 01:01:27.380
That's a very challenging thing for shit, even fucking 20-year-olds.
1561
01:01:27.420 --> 01:01:29.400
But to be your age and still maintain it, what
1562
01:01:29.440 --> 01:01:32.440
are some of the things that you are doing, like fitness-wise, diet-wise?
1563
01:01:32.460 --> 01:01:34.969
I took on a trainer over a year ago now.
1564
01:01:35.619 --> 01:01:37.139
which I'd kind of, I'd worked with a trainer in
1565
01:01:37.159 --> 01:01:39.820
the past, Rob McIntyre, who's also Cena's trainer. Like he's
1566
01:01:39.840 --> 01:01:42.679
a great guy. He would do my, my programs. And
1567
01:01:42.719 --> 01:01:44.079
when I was in Tampa, I'd go work out with
1568
01:01:44.119 --> 01:01:45.820
him as often as I could. But when I moved
1569
01:01:45.880 --> 01:01:48.599
to Nashville, where I'm at now, five and a half years,
1570
01:01:48.780 --> 01:01:51.099
obviously couldn't do that. I just got to the point
1571
01:01:51.119 --> 01:01:54.079
where I was following programs, but I've very like ADD,
1572
01:01:54.099 --> 01:01:55.659
whatever you want to call that. I just get distracted
1573
01:01:55.699 --> 01:01:58.380
by shiny red balls and suddenly my workout takes three hours.
1574
01:01:58.559 --> 01:02:02.320
So I was a man, I gotta, I gotta lock in. And, um, after, uh,
1575
01:02:04.639 --> 01:02:05.860
I think it was a cage match I had. I
1576
01:02:05.860 --> 01:02:07.519
had five weeks off. And I was like, I need
1577
01:02:07.539 --> 01:02:09.760
to change something in my training here. And I talked
1578
01:02:09.780 --> 01:02:11.659
to my buddy in Tampa who recommended me a trainer
1579
01:02:11.679 --> 01:02:14.159
in Nashville. And we kind of got talking. And I've
1580
01:02:14.199 --> 01:02:16.619
got a gym in my garage at home that I
1581
01:02:16.639 --> 01:02:18.570
like to train at. He came around. And we were
1582
01:02:18.590 --> 01:02:20.230
a good fit. And then he put me on a
1583
01:02:20.409 --> 01:02:23.489
different diet, which was 6,000 calories a day. I was like,
1584
01:02:23.510 --> 01:02:26.750
this is insane. This is not possible. And it was.
1585
01:02:27.090 --> 01:02:28.429
I started just doing it. I said, I'll give it
1586
01:02:28.449 --> 01:02:31.230
a try. And we started working on building the body
1587
01:02:31.269 --> 01:02:33.460
from the inside out. Like a lot of things had
1588
01:02:33.500 --> 01:02:36.579
hurt from a lifetime of wrestling and hadn't really been
1589
01:02:36.599 --> 01:02:39.159
doing any prehab. I'd done rehab after I got hurt,
1590
01:02:39.179 --> 01:02:42.329
but no prehab. He actually has brittle bone disease, was
1591
01:02:42.369 --> 01:02:44.090
told he'd never be a bodybuilder. I was like, screw that.
1592
01:02:44.110 --> 01:02:46.130
I'm going to become a bodybuilder. And did. He's got
1593
01:02:46.150 --> 01:02:49.409
two metal rods in his femurs. Looks great. He's about
1594
01:02:49.969 --> 01:02:52.309
as tall as he is wide, like a little angry
1595
01:02:52.349 --> 01:02:54.550
man that shouts at me all the time. But he
1596
01:02:54.570 --> 01:02:56.809
kind of built up his joints. He built up his tendons.
1597
01:02:56.849 --> 01:02:58.429
He kind of taught himself a lot of different things.
1598
01:02:58.489 --> 01:03:00.190
And he started showing me how to do these things.
1599
01:03:00.250 --> 01:03:02.510
Like simple things like, you know, cars, you're creating space
1600
01:03:02.530 --> 01:03:04.090
in your own joints. You move the shoulder around as
1601
01:03:04.130 --> 01:03:06.010
hard as you can. The hips, the knees, you can
1602
01:03:06.030 --> 01:03:07.750
do it in every body part. We started there. We
1603
01:03:08.449 --> 01:03:10.800
started building from the ground up with the feet. I
1604
01:03:10.800 --> 01:03:12.440
didn't realize how important they were. I didn't realize how
1605
01:03:12.500 --> 01:03:16.099
unstable I was until I started working out barefoot, wearing
1606
01:03:16.119 --> 01:03:19.360
these little barefoot shoes and really strengthening up the feet.
1607
01:03:19.820 --> 01:03:21.500
And I just was like, wow, this is incredible. The
1608
01:03:21.539 --> 01:03:23.500
difference of how I feel. And I was getting bigger.
1609
01:03:23.639 --> 01:03:26.360
I was getting leaner. And I was able to start
1610
01:03:26.400 --> 01:03:29.739
throwing head kicks again. My hips were in a bad
1611
01:03:29.809 --> 01:03:32.210
place where I could only throw a kick forward, which
1612
01:03:32.250 --> 01:03:34.170
is good because my finishing move is a claymore where
1613
01:03:34.190 --> 01:03:36.550
I throw my foot forward a lot of hamstring. But
1614
01:03:36.570 --> 01:03:38.269
I couldn't throw any side kicks anymore like I used
1615
01:03:38.289 --> 01:03:39.769
to when I was a kid. Now I can kick
1616
01:03:40.110 --> 01:03:42.159
the big show in the head or almost in the head.
1617
01:03:42.179 --> 01:03:44.460
My tallest guys, if I wanted to. I've gained my
1618
01:03:44.480 --> 01:03:47.380
flexibility back. But I've also got bigger, leaner. And it's
1619
01:03:47.639 --> 01:03:51.190
thanks to working with somebody, like, close proximity. That's what
1620
01:03:51.210 --> 01:03:51.829
he's talking about.
1621
01:03:51.909 --> 01:03:52.849
Consistently as well.
1622
01:03:52.869 --> 01:03:54.969
Yeah, yeah. And even, like I said, the past few months,
1623
01:03:55.070 --> 01:03:58.380
I've never really been a cardio guy since I played soccer.
1624
01:03:58.860 --> 01:04:00.619
I used to wrestle, like, three, four times a week
1625
01:04:00.659 --> 01:04:03.019
for years, so that was my cardio. Since we've kind
1626
01:04:03.059 --> 01:04:05.159
of slowed down the amount of matches we do, he's
1627
01:04:05.179 --> 01:04:08.019
had me doing HIIT cardio. He's got me on this,
1628
01:04:08.159 --> 01:04:10.699
which I love afterwards. Oh, it's so fucking tough. It's
1629
01:04:10.719 --> 01:04:11.300
the worst.
1630
01:04:11.400 --> 01:04:12.480
That's what I got in my garage.
1631
01:04:12.679 --> 01:04:15.590
Yeah. Like, afterwards, it's the best feeling, but at the time, like,
1632
01:04:16.010 --> 01:04:18.650
the other day, we did just I'd already done cardio
1633
01:04:18.670 --> 01:04:21.130
that day, regular, like 30 minutes. And then I was going,
1634
01:04:21.309 --> 01:04:23.570
rolling around the ring that day. And then we did
1635
01:04:23.610 --> 01:04:26.340
eight rounds. I think it was just 20 seconds off
1636
01:04:26.400 --> 01:04:28.659
and 10 seconds on for eight rounds. That's all it was.
1637
01:04:28.739 --> 01:04:31.239
Seems easy in theory. It was not easy. Going as
1638
01:04:31.280 --> 01:04:32.900
hard as you can. As I say, a little angry
1639
01:04:32.940 --> 01:04:35.679
man shouting at you the whole time. Like, I want
1640
01:04:35.699 --> 01:04:37.389
to be in the best cardio shape of my life.
1641
01:04:37.530 --> 01:04:39.670
And again, I figured I would start leaning up. When
1642
01:04:39.690 --> 01:04:43.090
I came back from Barcelona, was back into the diet.
1643
01:04:43.309 --> 01:04:44.710
I lived in Nashville again. I was like, yeah, I'm
1644
01:04:44.730 --> 01:04:47.119
probably going to lose some weight. all the cardio etc
1645
01:04:47.139 --> 01:04:48.860
but it's been the opposite I've gotten bigger I've gotten
1646
01:04:48.909 --> 01:04:50.449
leaner I've gotten more flexible and I feel in the
1647
01:04:50.489 --> 01:04:53.829
best shape of my life which is bizarre yeah especially
1648
01:04:53.989 --> 01:04:57.949
at 41 man yeah genetics are always on my side
1649
01:04:57.969 --> 01:04:59.869
I just have to eat enough or I will like
1650
01:04:59.909 --> 01:05:02.739
fade away if I cut like eight twice a day
1651
01:05:02.780 --> 01:05:05.119
or three times a day even I would go down
1652
01:05:05.179 --> 01:05:07.659
to like 250 like that and then just continue.
1653
01:05:07.320 --> 01:05:10.019
Yeah how long do you think you're gonna wrestle for.
1654
01:05:11.579 --> 01:05:13.300
As long as I enjoy it I guess as long
1655
01:05:13.320 --> 01:05:16.179
as the fans are enjoying what I do yeah I
1656
01:05:16.219 --> 01:05:18.360
can't imagine slowing down. Like I say, I've never felt
1657
01:05:18.440 --> 01:05:21.139
as physically good as times where I felt really beat
1658
01:05:21.199 --> 01:05:23.460
up a couple of years ago. And I was like, wow,
1659
01:05:23.519 --> 01:05:26.800
I'm feeling my age and feeling how long I've been wrestling.
1660
01:05:27.400 --> 01:05:29.519
And now I just feel unbelievable. As I say, I'm
1661
01:05:29.539 --> 01:05:31.559
rolling around in the ring with no crowd there just
1662
01:05:31.579 --> 01:05:33.619
because I want to be in the best in-ring shape
1663
01:05:33.679 --> 01:05:36.610
of my life. I posted a video just bouncing off
1664
01:05:36.639 --> 01:05:40.130
the ropes the other week. I saw it. Between all
1665
01:05:40.170 --> 01:05:42.210
my socials, over 10 million views for just bouncing off
1666
01:05:42.230 --> 01:05:43.699
the ropes. I was like, all right, it seems like
1667
01:05:43.719 --> 01:05:45.360
people want to see me get back in that ring.
1668
01:05:45.380 --> 01:05:47.820
That's kind of cool. But yeah, I'm hitting the ropes.
1669
01:05:47.880 --> 01:05:49.449
I've always been fast hitting the ropes. I was hitting
1670
01:05:49.469 --> 01:05:50.889
on the grease light and my buddy was like, you
1671
01:05:50.909 --> 01:05:53.530
need to record that because that's kind of impressive. Like
1672
01:05:53.610 --> 01:05:55.969
he's not a wrestling guy. He was like, you're flying.
1673
01:05:55.989 --> 01:05:57.869
I want to show you how fast you're going. And
1674
01:05:58.369 --> 01:06:00.289
my trainer was there and he's been watching me coming
1675
01:06:00.309 --> 01:06:03.769
to shows the past year, year plus. And he's like,
1676
01:06:03.789 --> 01:06:05.409
the way you're moving in the ring, I was wrestling
1677
01:06:05.429 --> 01:06:08.250
bare feet as well, rolling around all over the place.
1678
01:06:08.269 --> 01:06:10.050
He was like, you were not moving like this before. Like,
1679
01:06:10.070 --> 01:06:11.510
I don't know what you moved like when you were younger,
1680
01:06:11.530 --> 01:06:13.610
but you were not moving like this. you were last
1681
01:06:13.650 --> 01:06:15.889
wrestling so i can't wait to people can see you
1682
01:06:16.519 --> 01:06:17.960
know how i am in the ring how i'm moving
1683
01:06:18.000 --> 01:06:21.179
now and you know maybe i'll be back soon maybe
1684
01:06:21.199 --> 01:06:23.219
i'll be back later but for now we're focused on
1685
01:06:23.260 --> 01:06:26.219
hollywood drew yeah maybe that's the thing when i come
1686
01:06:26.260 --> 01:06:28.059
back because i will be talking about it non-stop your
1687
01:06:28.099 --> 01:06:29.179
ears are going to bleed how much i'm going to
1688
01:06:29.219 --> 01:06:31.460
talk about it and how much people should be grateful
1689
01:06:31.480 --> 01:06:34.139
that i'm back because i don't need wwe and the
1690
01:06:34.159 --> 01:06:35.460
fans now y'all need me.
1691
01:06:36.280 --> 01:06:40.139
Dude Wrestling, man, I'm such a big fan of fucking wrestling, man.
1692
01:06:40.420 --> 01:06:42.239
It's such a fucking cool thing to do.
1693
01:06:42.400 --> 01:06:43.860
It's fun. It's really, really fun.
1694
01:06:44.219 --> 01:06:44.519
Yeah.
1695
01:06:44.780 --> 01:06:47.380
On screen and for being in the crowd. Like, I
1696
01:06:47.400 --> 01:06:50.039
love hiding in the crowd. I drove by a little
1697
01:06:50.099 --> 01:06:52.320
wrestling event, actually, the other week in Nashville. I got
1698
01:06:52.400 --> 01:06:54.400
some stuff from the grocery store, and I saw a
1699
01:06:54.460 --> 01:06:56.260
ring outside, and I couldn't tell you how excited I got.
1700
01:06:56.659 --> 01:06:59.059
I was like, I drove back, and I was hiding, like,
1701
01:06:59.099 --> 01:07:01.780
just watching the ring. They're outside. It was like 100 degrees,
1702
01:07:01.840 --> 01:07:03.860
like 20 people in the crowd. and I kind of
1703
01:07:03.880 --> 01:07:05.880
pulled by where the wrestlers were using as the backstage
1704
01:07:05.940 --> 01:07:07.980
area to come out, behind this bar where the ring
1705
01:07:08.000 --> 01:07:09.760
was set up, and I couldn't quite see, and I
1706
01:07:09.880 --> 01:07:12.050
rolled the window down, I blacked out windows, and this
1707
01:07:12.139 --> 01:07:16.190
guy who's on the show's jaw just went, oh, hey, man. Oh, yeah,
1708
01:07:16.210 --> 01:07:18.530
Drew McIntyre. I just thought this must be weird for you.
1709
01:07:19.329 --> 01:07:21.250
It's the last thing he expected while he's wrestling on
1710
01:07:21.269 --> 01:07:21.590
the show.
1711
01:07:21.610 --> 01:07:22.909
Where do you get recognized the most?
1712
01:07:24.010 --> 01:07:29.780
Um... If I go to Walmart, I guess there, but, uh...
1713
01:07:30.550 --> 01:07:33.059
Different states, certainly a lot more than I'll play. If
1714
01:07:33.079 --> 01:07:36.219
I go to New York, everywhere. Wrestling's so big, somewhere
1715
01:07:36.239 --> 01:07:38.760
like New York. Nashville, I wear a hat a lot.
1716
01:07:38.780 --> 01:07:41.719
It's incredible what a hat can do for blending in.
1717
01:07:41.800 --> 01:07:42.550
Not for me.
1718
01:07:43.219 --> 01:07:44.909
That's such a part of my brand.
1719
01:07:44.949 --> 01:07:47.829
They know it's me. I never wear a hat ever,
1720
01:07:47.889 --> 01:07:49.489
and I have it down over my eyes as well.
1721
01:07:49.570 --> 01:07:51.630
My eyes are kind of with the change of color,
1722
01:07:51.670 --> 01:07:54.639
but generally kind of bright blue. They're like, wait a minute.
1723
01:07:54.760 --> 01:07:57.119
I used to rip on Superman. I was like, so stupid.
1724
01:07:57.159 --> 01:08:01.230
Clark Kent takes off glasses and Yeah, that's so dumb.
1725
01:08:01.269 --> 01:08:02.750
And then Christopher Reeves does a good bit where he's
1726
01:08:02.769 --> 01:08:04.489
kind of hunched over as Clark, he takes it off
1727
01:08:04.530 --> 01:08:07.780
and his posture changes. It's still freaking him. And I
1728
01:08:07.780 --> 01:08:09.019
was like, that's so silly. But then I did the
1729
01:08:09.059 --> 01:08:10.769
hat thing because the wife kept asking me to wear it.
1730
01:08:10.980 --> 01:08:13.579
So she doesn't love everywhere we go. People are kind
1731
01:08:13.599 --> 01:08:16.460
of like, what do you do? Or you're that wrestler. Yeah.
1732
01:08:16.560 --> 01:08:18.619
The size, they just assume I do something. And I
1733
01:08:18.659 --> 01:08:20.300
did the hat thing. And sure enough, I was like, man,
1734
01:08:20.340 --> 01:08:22.140
I probably give Superman too much of a hard time
1735
01:08:22.159 --> 01:08:25.579
because this is working. I need some glasses as well.
1736
01:08:26.750 --> 01:08:29.069
What's your, what's your, do you have any like favorite
1737
01:08:29.229 --> 01:08:30.010
fan interactions?
1738
01:08:30.770 --> 01:08:32.010
Things that really stand out in your mind?
1739
01:08:32.029 --> 01:08:37.090
I mean, there's so many. Positive over the years. A
1740
01:08:37.109 --> 01:08:39.430
couple of negative ones too, but mostly, mostly positive. Our
1741
01:08:39.489 --> 01:08:45.010
fans are fairly respectful. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's been
1742
01:08:45.029 --> 01:08:47.750
a lot, like, I guess from, the pandemic, I talked
1743
01:08:47.770 --> 01:08:51.840
to a lot of people as champion through, I can't
1744
01:08:51.859 --> 01:08:53.800
remember what the apps were or whatever, but I got
1745
01:08:53.819 --> 01:08:55.970
to chat with some people. I get like 30 at
1746
01:08:55.979 --> 01:08:57.630
a time or 40 at a time, and I could
1747
01:08:57.649 --> 01:08:59.069
have talked to people one after another, like a meet
1748
01:08:59.090 --> 01:08:59.750
and greet online.
1749
01:09:00.010 --> 01:09:00.729
Or whatever.
1750
01:09:00.750 --> 01:09:04.130
And some were genuinely upset and going through a tough time.
1751
01:09:04.189 --> 01:09:07.229
And people I met in real life said I was
1752
01:09:07.289 --> 01:09:08.909
one of those people and they kind of said you
1753
01:09:08.970 --> 01:09:10.989
and WWE saved my life during that period. Things like
1754
01:09:11.010 --> 01:09:14.270
that were just unbelievable. So things like that you can't
1755
01:09:15.260 --> 01:09:17.560
put a price on. You can't believe it actually happened.
1756
01:09:17.579 --> 01:09:20.020
You can't believe something like wrestling or you a little
1757
01:09:20.060 --> 01:09:22.079
wrestling show can make a difference in someone's life in that.
1758
01:09:21.989 --> 01:09:24.609
Way yeah especially because you're just kind of doing the
1759
01:09:24.649 --> 01:09:27.770
thing that you just sort of love it's cool it's
1760
01:09:27.810 --> 01:09:29.289
cool to have that sort of reaction.
1761
01:09:28.970 --> 01:09:31.529
For sure it's unbelievable and it leads to other things
1762
01:09:31.569 --> 01:09:34.289
like i love helping people wherever i can i get
1763
01:09:34.310 --> 01:09:36.890
to work with special olympics as a global ambassador i
1764
01:09:37.010 --> 01:09:39.229
got to go to the special olympics world games in
1765
01:09:39.250 --> 01:09:41.170
berlin a couple of years ago and be part of
1766
01:09:41.350 --> 01:09:43.930
that whole event opening ceremony was the most positive experience
1767
01:09:43.949 --> 01:09:47.029
i've ever had my entire life and Yeah, anytime I
1768
01:09:47.050 --> 01:09:49.829
can make a difference. And everybody can, just big things
1769
01:09:49.850 --> 01:09:51.350
like that. Like if you make a difference, I think
1770
01:09:51.390 --> 01:09:54.470
it was Afterlife, the Ricky Gervais show, you can make
1771
01:09:54.609 --> 01:09:57.350
a positive difference in your little corner of the world
1772
01:09:57.380 --> 01:09:59.439
when you're doing something. You need a lot more of
1773
01:09:59.479 --> 01:10:02.100
that now because it can be a pretty negative place
1774
01:10:02.119 --> 01:10:02.460
in the world.
1775
01:10:02.640 --> 01:10:05.640
Yeah, especially with the fucking internet. But it is true.
1776
01:10:05.680 --> 01:10:07.439
It is like even just in your own life, even
1777
01:10:07.460 --> 01:10:08.880
just with like a family member or a friend, if
1778
01:10:08.899 --> 01:10:10.180
you could do that and have that impact.
1779
01:10:10.359 --> 01:10:12.439
It's the conversation. You never know. Give a phone call
1780
01:10:12.460 --> 01:10:14.060
to somebody. You never know the difference it can make.
1781
01:10:14.399 --> 01:10:16.840
Certain phone calls I wish I realized what was being
1782
01:10:16.899 --> 01:10:19.000
said while I was on the phone and picked up
1783
01:10:19.100 --> 01:10:21.619
on it because later it was too late to do something.
1784
01:10:21.640 --> 01:10:23.079
You go, God, I could have done something here. I
1785
01:10:23.100 --> 01:10:25.880
wish I did something here. You can't change the past.
1786
01:10:25.920 --> 01:10:28.279
You can't blame yourself for something that was negative in
1787
01:10:28.300 --> 01:10:30.779
the past, but you can be proactive and just give
1788
01:10:30.800 --> 01:10:31.739
somebody a shot.
1789
01:10:32.159 --> 01:10:33.640
What happened there specifically for you?
1790
01:10:34.479 --> 01:10:38.680
Oh, my mate killed him. He was calling about somebody else.
1791
01:10:39.659 --> 01:10:41.050
He was going through something similar that I need to
1792
01:10:41.100 --> 01:10:43.010
check on him, but he was also talking about himself,
1793
01:10:43.050 --> 01:10:44.789
and I did not realize. And he was gone about
1794
01:10:44.869 --> 01:10:46.109
a week later, and I was like, God, I wish
1795
01:10:46.170 --> 01:10:49.229
I'd realized or said something, but you can't blame yourself
1796
01:10:49.289 --> 01:10:50.350
or change anything. No.
1797
01:10:50.909 --> 01:10:51.590
When did that happen?
1798
01:10:51.609 --> 01:11:00.859
That would have been before the pandemic. Maybe 2019 or something. Damn.
1799
01:11:02.260 --> 01:11:04.020
Or the guy I grew up with in the wrestling
1800
01:11:04.039 --> 01:11:05.939
and that. Seemed to be doing really well. Seemed to
1801
01:11:05.960 --> 01:11:08.640
be a very positive guy generally. But then you don't
1802
01:11:08.680 --> 01:11:13.079
know what's going on with somebody. Yeah. I closed doors and, yeah,
1803
01:11:13.319 --> 01:11:15.770
did it. Everybody was just, we're all shocked. Yeah. We
1804
01:11:15.810 --> 01:11:17.270
all feel that we should have said something, wish we'd
1805
01:11:17.310 --> 01:11:20.489
said something, but we didn't. And if anyone's struggling out there, please,
1806
01:11:20.510 --> 01:11:22.310
for the love of God, talk to your mates. Talk
1807
01:11:22.350 --> 01:11:25.210
to somebody you feel comfortable with. If you don't feel comfortable,
1808
01:11:25.270 --> 01:11:28.229
talk to those anonymous hotlines. It's whatever you have to do,
1809
01:11:28.260 --> 01:11:30.359
because all you had to do was say something to somebody,
1810
01:11:30.520 --> 01:11:32.500
and we would have stepped right in and helped out. Yeah.
1811
01:11:32.520 --> 01:11:34.729
Because we think the cause, which I won't say, but...
1812
01:11:35.420 --> 01:11:37.079
we kind of tried to piece it together. What might
1813
01:11:37.100 --> 01:11:39.189
have been the reason if he just said something, we
1814
01:11:39.210 --> 01:11:41.189
could have got him to help, but we can't change
1815
01:11:41.210 --> 01:11:42.350
the film. Yeah.
1816
01:11:42.409 --> 01:11:44.050
My father took his life when I was real young
1817
01:11:44.829 --> 01:11:46.210
and no, no worries.
1818
01:11:46.930 --> 01:11:49.569
I realize, I mean, it's an, there's an interesting thing
1819
01:11:49.609 --> 01:11:52.880
around that concept in general suicide that like, even, and
1820
01:11:53.300 --> 01:11:55.640
this is not to say that like, don't.
1821
01:11:55.479 --> 01:11:56.119
Talk to someone.
1822
01:11:56.140 --> 01:11:58.899
Cause obviously that's the, the key to fixing any situation
1823
01:11:58.939 --> 01:12:00.659
is getting someone out of their own mindset. And so
1824
01:12:00.699 --> 01:12:04.119
it's like having conversations about whatever, and pull them in
1825
01:12:04.140 --> 01:12:06.899
a different direction to think differently is the key. The
1826
01:12:06.939 --> 01:12:09.439
sad thing is in the, some of those cases, it's
1827
01:12:09.460 --> 01:12:11.539
like when, if someone's going to do it, they're just
1828
01:12:11.579 --> 01:12:13.819
going to do it. Like if they're really at that point,
1829
01:12:13.960 --> 01:12:15.760
which I know my father was at that point from,
1830
01:12:15.960 --> 01:12:19.779
you know, knowing the stories surrounding it, you know, it's, I, I,
1831
01:12:19.819 --> 01:12:21.810
for a very long time held this, like I wasn't,
1832
01:12:21.850 --> 01:12:24.529
it was my, not my fault necessarily directly, but I
1833
01:12:24.569 --> 01:12:26.869
wasn't sort of good enough to have my father stick
1834
01:12:26.909 --> 01:12:28.869
around for me. And it was, but I created this
1835
01:12:28.909 --> 01:12:31.069
whole idea in my mind as a young kid, because
1836
01:12:31.090 --> 01:12:32.090
I was six when it happened.
1837
01:12:32.630 --> 01:12:34.750
That this is why, and I'm not good enough. And
1838
01:12:34.770 --> 01:12:35.569
that's why he's not here.
1839
01:12:35.949 --> 01:12:38.369
But it's never, it's, it's never that like, it's just,
1840
01:12:38.550 --> 01:12:41.069
there's like you said, it's like, how can you have
1841
01:12:41.109 --> 01:12:42.720
that conversation with someone and just leave them in a
1842
01:12:42.739 --> 01:12:43.359
different direction?
1843
01:12:45.220 --> 01:12:45.689
So I get it.
1844
01:12:45.699 --> 01:12:48.859
That's super fucking tough. I couldn't imagine being, especially like
1845
01:12:48.899 --> 01:12:51.720
in my later twenties or wherever. I mean, even now
1846
01:12:51.739 --> 01:12:53.520
at this point in my life, if I, if that happened,
1847
01:12:53.600 --> 01:12:55.119
it's actually, that did.
1848
01:12:54.979 --> 01:12:55.420
Happen to me.
1849
01:12:55.460 --> 01:12:58.199
Now that I think about it, there's exactly the same
1850
01:12:58.239 --> 01:13:01.000
sort of concept, but I don't think it was directly
1851
01:13:01.060 --> 01:13:04.090
like that. It was, I'll never forget. I, when my
1852
01:13:04.149 --> 01:13:06.520
first lifting partner, when I was like 17, he was like,
1853
01:13:06.819 --> 01:13:08.119
I think he was like 30 and he was like
1854
01:13:08.140 --> 01:13:10.649
the first person who really pushed me in the gym. Uh,
1855
01:13:10.659 --> 01:13:15.199
his name is Chad. He texted me, um, Hey, I'm
1856
01:13:15.220 --> 01:13:17.020
really proud of you. Like, sorry if I was ever
1857
01:13:17.039 --> 01:13:20.090
like sort of mean to you. Uh, I was going
1858
01:13:20.109 --> 01:13:20.869
to make me emotional.
1859
01:13:28.789 --> 01:13:31.859
Good thing about the pain. You never forget. Except my mother.
1860
01:13:32.000 --> 01:13:33.199
I cry all the time when I think about her.
1861
01:13:33.300 --> 01:13:36.680
But you never forget what he's going to remember. Yeah,
1862
01:13:36.699 --> 01:13:39.779
I'm sorry. Oh, shit, that's tough.
1863
01:13:43.319 --> 01:13:44.000
Oh, man, sorry.
1864
01:13:44.800 --> 01:13:47.479
Yeah, he had messaged that to me. And then I
1865
01:13:49.159 --> 01:13:53.260
think I must have saw it later. And then I
1866
01:13:53.300 --> 01:13:59.550
heard maybe a couple months after he had ended his life,
1867
01:13:59.590 --> 01:14:03.220
he had shot himself. And I was like, dude, I
1868
01:14:03.300 --> 01:14:04.800
swear he messaged me. And I went back to it
1869
01:14:04.819 --> 01:14:06.439
and I was like, fuck, like if I had just,
1870
01:14:07.140 --> 01:14:11.979
maybe if I had said something. And yeah, that fucked
1871
01:14:12.000 --> 01:14:15.810
me up actually. Kids fucked me up too, because like,
1872
01:14:16.850 --> 01:14:19.149
I'm not gonna make this podcast about me, this is
1873
01:14:19.210 --> 01:14:22.890
about you. My father figure, obviously I lost my dad
1874
01:14:22.909 --> 01:14:24.569
when I was young. He hung himself when I was six.
1875
01:14:24.710 --> 01:14:27.310
I struggled my whole life being like, am I good enough?
1876
01:14:28.229 --> 01:14:30.310
And then the guy who was like the.
1877
01:14:30.310 --> 01:14:34.130
First person who sort of like pushed me mentally in
1878
01:14:34.149 --> 01:14:35.760
that direction of the gym. And like, I was like, Oh,
1879
01:14:35.800 --> 01:14:37.399
I'm actually getting good at this. And I started to
1880
01:14:37.479 --> 01:14:38.600
feel validation.
1881
01:14:38.859 --> 01:14:39.060
Yeah.
1882
01:14:39.439 --> 01:14:41.119
And the first person who.
1883
01:14:41.000 --> 01:14:42.239
Was like a father figure himself.
1884
01:14:42.359 --> 01:14:42.859
Exactly.
1885
01:14:43.079 --> 01:14:46.699
It was the first father figure. Dude, I don't know
1886
01:14:46.739 --> 01:14:48.850
why my life is that way. It's very interesting, but.
1887
01:14:49.130 --> 01:14:53.409
It's life like it's ups and downs. And thankfully, you know,
1888
01:14:53.449 --> 01:14:55.310
you had him come into your life and teach you
1889
01:14:55.350 --> 01:14:57.569
those lessons before he was gone. There's nothing you could
1890
01:14:57.590 --> 01:15:00.260
have done. It sucks. And I know exactly, exactly how
1891
01:15:00.270 --> 01:15:02.960
you feel, but, like we are now and the man
1892
01:15:02.979 --> 01:15:06.350
you are today is because of the lessons, I call them,
1893
01:15:06.390 --> 01:15:08.750
like the crap parts. Like I don't call them failures.
1894
01:15:08.770 --> 01:15:10.890
I don't call them anything but lessons that make us
1895
01:15:10.930 --> 01:15:12.829
the people we are today. And you would never change
1896
01:15:12.890 --> 01:15:14.350
a thing or you wouldn't be who you are now,
1897
01:15:14.449 --> 01:15:16.930
who I am now. And the pain that you feel
1898
01:15:16.970 --> 01:15:18.970
when you think back is, I always say is positive
1899
01:15:18.989 --> 01:15:21.069
because you never ever forget them. Like as soon as
1900
01:15:21.090 --> 01:15:23.289
you think about them, a song, a memory, boom, it
1901
01:15:23.329 --> 01:15:25.170
hits you right away. And that's how we always remember
1902
01:15:25.210 --> 01:15:26.680
for the rest of our lives. Yeah.
1903
01:15:27.180 --> 01:15:28.720
And I think that the most important part of it
1904
01:15:28.739 --> 01:15:31.359
that you could take forward is just sort of, Like
1905
01:15:31.399 --> 01:15:33.180
we were saying earlier about your friend, and I'm saying
1906
01:15:33.199 --> 01:15:36.119
about my friend now, and my dad is like, okay,
1907
01:15:36.199 --> 01:15:39.829
how can you speak with people now about sort of
1908
01:15:39.949 --> 01:15:41.729
parts of your life that can make them look at
1909
01:15:41.750 --> 01:15:44.210
their life and go, you know what, I can figure
1910
01:15:44.250 --> 01:15:47.010
this out. I see maybe, because I've had people message me,
1911
01:15:47.050 --> 01:15:48.670
like I see how much it's hurt you when you've
1912
01:15:48.689 --> 01:15:51.380
talked about these things. Like specifically, you know, when you
1913
01:15:51.399 --> 01:15:54.239
talk about people messaging you during COVID or whenever, I've
1914
01:15:54.260 --> 01:15:56.079
had a guy message me directly and be like, I've
1915
01:15:56.119 --> 01:15:56.920
seen you speak.
1916
01:15:56.720 --> 01:15:57.439
About your father.
1917
01:15:58.020 --> 01:16:00.060
And I have these kids, and I was going to
1918
01:16:00.079 --> 01:16:02.520
end my life. And after I saw you talk about this,
1919
01:16:02.539 --> 01:16:04.859
I realized how much I don't want my kids to
1920
01:16:04.880 --> 01:16:05.579
experience that.
1921
01:16:05.600 --> 01:16:08.789
That's the difference you made there. It feels like it
1922
01:16:08.850 --> 01:16:11.229
happens a lot more, to be honest. There are other
1923
01:16:11.270 --> 01:16:14.090
people I know and friends and stuff that it's happening to.
1924
01:16:14.789 --> 01:16:18.689
November is coming up, so November is the mental health awareness.
1925
01:16:19.390 --> 01:16:21.489
And it's okay to not be okay.
1926
01:16:21.529 --> 01:16:22.340
That is so true.
1927
01:16:22.760 --> 01:16:25.100
We all go through those feelings, but some even more
1928
01:16:25.140 --> 01:16:29.170
than others. Yeah. it takes to put that message out there,
1929
01:16:29.189 --> 01:16:32.810
and hopefully something comes into their life, like watching yourself
1930
01:16:32.850 --> 01:16:33.630
on the podcast.
1931
01:16:33.770 --> 01:16:34.010
Yeah.
1932
01:16:34.250 --> 01:16:37.970
Being open and honest can make them not do that
1933
01:16:38.010 --> 01:16:40.229
horrible thing that there's no coming back from.
1934
01:16:40.880 --> 01:16:43.119
Do you have any regrets as far as it goes
1935
01:16:43.159 --> 01:16:43.680
with your mother?
1936
01:16:43.699 --> 01:16:48.979
I do, and did, and I don't blame myself now. Like,
1937
01:16:49.100 --> 01:16:50.739
I wish I went back more when she was sick,
1938
01:16:52.340 --> 01:16:55.550
like even during the chemo. and stuff, and she had
1939
01:16:55.600 --> 01:16:57.489
a rare genetic disorder where she couldn't just leave the
1940
01:16:57.529 --> 01:17:03.250
house herself. Balance disorder. Cerebellar ataxia. Cerebellum ataxia. She couldn't
1941
01:17:03.270 --> 01:17:05.090
leave the house, and I do wish I went back more,
1942
01:17:05.109 --> 01:17:06.869
but she refused to let me. She didn't want me
1943
01:17:06.890 --> 01:17:09.060
to see her in that condition. She would keep saying
1944
01:17:09.119 --> 01:17:13.399
no and keep pushing forward with the job. I came home,
1945
01:17:14.000 --> 01:17:15.560
and my dad was at the airport, my brother was
1946
01:17:15.579 --> 01:17:17.279
at the airport, so we have to go to the hospital,
1947
01:17:17.340 --> 01:17:20.510
and she was gone three days later. The cancer came,
1948
01:17:21.149 --> 01:17:25.380
gone away, the family came to WrestleMania. 2011 I'd taken
1949
01:17:25.399 --> 01:17:28.060
them a trip around all the shows and wanted them
1950
01:17:28.090 --> 01:17:30.390
to experience everything I experienced like sushi is not a
1951
01:17:30.409 --> 01:17:31.689
thing in Scotland I don't think it even is to
1952
01:17:31.729 --> 01:17:34.270
this day but I was kind of letting them try
1953
01:17:34.310 --> 01:17:36.409
all the sushi stuff my dad ate wasabi at one
1954
01:17:36.449 --> 01:17:38.050
point I looked away for a second he was just
1955
01:17:38.170 --> 01:17:39.890
sweating I went what are you doing he was like
1956
01:17:39.909 --> 01:17:41.489
what's going on he was like and I looked at
1957
01:17:41.510 --> 01:17:43.090
the plate and I went why do you eat the
1958
01:17:43.130 --> 01:17:44.810
wasabi I looked at the least threatening thing he just
1959
01:17:44.840 --> 01:17:47.880
ate a bottle of wasabi and hibachi nights and like
1960
01:17:48.039 --> 01:17:50.579
going to like random bars all across America and she
1961
01:17:50.600 --> 01:17:52.859
told me you know she had a hysterectomy during that
1962
01:17:52.920 --> 01:17:57.149
period and It was cancer-related, but it's okay now. And then,
1963
01:17:57.689 --> 01:17:59.270
you know, fast forward, I came home and she was
1964
01:17:59.310 --> 01:18:01.710
gone three days later. That kind of rocked my world. Yeah.
1965
01:18:03.029 --> 01:18:04.430
Got to spend the three days with her, but we
1966
01:18:04.449 --> 01:18:06.680
couldn't communicate. And we'd said everything we needed to say.
1967
01:18:06.689 --> 01:18:08.779
When she got sick, I made sure that we always said,
1968
01:18:09.140 --> 01:18:10.100
I love you at the end of the calls, because
1969
01:18:10.119 --> 01:18:11.500
we never said it. And I said that to her
1970
01:18:11.560 --> 01:18:13.779
one time. I want to start saying this from now on.
1971
01:18:14.420 --> 01:18:15.699
She was like, but we know. I was like, I know, Mom.
1972
01:18:15.779 --> 01:18:18.060
I just, like, I really want to start just saying
1973
01:18:18.079 --> 01:18:18.600
it out loud.
1974
01:18:19.239 --> 01:18:20.060
You didn't grow up saying that?
1975
01:18:21.260 --> 01:18:24.369
I did, but not, like, all the time. She was
1976
01:18:24.630 --> 01:18:28.640
so tough and an almost important person in my life.
1977
01:18:28.680 --> 01:18:30.760
My dad was the big emotional one. He'd cry everything,
1978
01:18:30.779 --> 01:18:33.300
still cries everything. I remember I walked out as WWE
1979
01:18:33.340 --> 01:18:35.720
champion in Scotland, I looked in the crowd, everyone was just, yeah,
1980
01:18:35.739 --> 01:18:38.159
my dad's just standing there pouring tears. I called him
1981
01:18:38.199 --> 01:18:40.619
up at Highlander, he burst into tears. He's the big
1982
01:18:40.640 --> 01:18:43.010
emotional one. My mom was like a banana, like her mom.
1983
01:18:43.050 --> 01:18:45.489
I grew up with two mothers. Even my aunt was
1984
01:18:45.510 --> 01:18:47.210
there a lot as well. The women in my family
1985
01:18:47.229 --> 01:18:49.369
were the strongest. My cousin Michelle now is kind of
1986
01:18:49.750 --> 01:18:51.619
the head of the family because it's always the women
1987
01:18:51.659 --> 01:18:55.220
that are the strongest ones. But yeah, my mom was
1988
01:18:55.239 --> 01:18:58.069
just so physically with everything she went through physically and
1989
01:18:58.090 --> 01:18:59.689
had to deal with and told she'd never have kids
1990
01:18:59.750 --> 01:19:02.630
and stuff and having me and my brother and mentally.
1991
01:19:02.289 --> 01:19:03.909
Tough, which she had to be. Yeah, what a kid.
1992
01:19:04.430 --> 01:19:08.579
Like, fuck, bro. She always believed in me no matter what.
1993
01:19:08.640 --> 01:19:10.539
My dad did as well. He was just like, please
1994
01:19:10.560 --> 01:19:13.439
get the education. That's not a guarantee with the wrestling thing.
1995
01:19:15.460 --> 01:19:18.279
So would you say your mom was more like, go
1996
01:19:18.380 --> 01:19:19.819
out and do the thing that you really want to do?
1997
01:19:20.470 --> 01:19:24.850
Yeah. I mean, she worried all the time. You know,
1998
01:19:24.909 --> 01:19:26.829
all the crazy stuff I could get up to. She
1999
01:19:26.850 --> 01:19:28.890
knew it was a bit of a loose cannon at times.
2000
01:19:29.510 --> 01:19:32.130
But she believed in me. And I'm happy she got
2001
01:19:32.149 --> 01:19:35.899
to see me. Where at least I succeeded to. before
2002
01:19:35.939 --> 01:19:39.079
she passed. And I know she's, whatever I go and
2003
01:19:39.100 --> 01:19:42.439
whatever I do, she's there. She's part of me. Everything,
2004
01:19:42.689 --> 01:19:46.029
kind of, the tough part comes from her. And then
2005
01:19:46.050 --> 01:19:48.569
I get emotional, whatever. Even though my dad's, like, tall
2006
01:19:48.630 --> 01:19:50.449
and was always known as Big Andy. And I said
2007
01:19:50.470 --> 01:19:51.590
to everyone when I was younger, I'm going to be
2008
01:19:51.609 --> 01:19:56.529
Giant Drew one day. That emotional part comes from him. Yeah.
2009
01:19:57.350 --> 01:20:00.149
That's beautiful, though, man. Well, dude, it's been a fucking
2010
01:20:00.350 --> 01:20:01.550
pleasure talking to you.
2011
01:20:01.670 --> 01:20:03.409
Genuinely. It's been a really good conversation.
2012
01:20:03.819 --> 01:20:07.949
Yeah, so... What you're most excited about now, obviously WWE.
2013
01:20:08.590 --> 01:20:11.510
It sounds like the acting thing is big for you, though.
2014
01:20:11.850 --> 01:20:13.340
Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I just didn't know it
2015
01:20:13.350 --> 01:20:17.039
was going to become something I really enjoy and love
2016
01:20:17.079 --> 01:20:19.840
even the process and excited for the future that there's
2017
01:20:19.899 --> 01:20:23.180
something else that I could actually do. One of the
2018
01:20:23.220 --> 01:20:25.300
guys had already decided that's what I was doing on
2019
01:20:25.760 --> 01:20:27.979
The Last Druid. He was like, right, Drew, you're going
2020
01:20:28.010 --> 01:20:29.710
to stop that wrestling thing and you're going to lose
2021
01:20:29.750 --> 01:20:31.210
some weight and we're going to get you in a
2022
01:20:31.210 --> 01:20:33.210
bunch of different roles. I was like, Relax, pal.
2023
01:20:33.229 --> 01:20:34.149
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
2024
01:20:34.170 --> 01:20:36.210
Hold on, hold on, hold on. I love the wrestling thing.
2025
01:20:36.229 --> 01:20:37.909
He decided acting was my new career. I was like,
2026
01:20:37.930 --> 01:20:39.430
you realize how big wrestling is? And I could explain
2027
01:20:39.449 --> 01:20:41.729
to him, all right, continue the wrestling thing for a bit.
2028
01:20:42.289 --> 01:20:44.689
We'll get to the acting thing. But it is cool.
2029
01:20:44.710 --> 01:20:47.260
There's something else I do really enjoy. And I'm excited
2030
01:20:47.279 --> 01:20:50.100
to see what happens in the future. But WWE is
2031
01:20:50.140 --> 01:20:51.960
my home. I will be back. I'm excited to see
2032
01:20:52.319 --> 01:20:55.140
people's reaction to the first one, the vertical shark, because
2033
01:20:55.159 --> 01:20:58.520
there is so many WWE guys in there. Even Michael, P.S. Hayes,
2034
01:20:58.659 --> 01:21:01.020
if anyone knows the name out there, He's from the
2035
01:21:01.060 --> 01:21:02.880
kind of territory day, like back in the day. I
2036
01:21:02.880 --> 01:21:05.079
don't know if you saw the Von Erich movie with
2037
01:21:05.399 --> 01:21:07.890
all the brothers that died. And Kevin was the last brother.
2038
01:21:07.930 --> 01:21:11.869
That movie was fucking great. Amazing movie. It was phenomenal
2039
01:21:11.909 --> 01:21:13.710
in that movie. And it's such a sad story. But
2040
01:21:13.750 --> 01:21:17.430
they're big rivals of the fabulous Freebirds. They would rival with.
2041
01:21:17.489 --> 01:21:20.670
Michael was the kind of centerpiece. He's been working backstage forever.
2042
01:21:20.750 --> 01:21:22.510
He was in the original Highlander at the very beginning
2043
01:21:22.529 --> 01:21:24.289
of the movie, if you remember. There's a wrestling match
2044
01:21:24.329 --> 01:21:26.130
going on. And he's sitting in the audience. And then
2045
01:21:26.149 --> 01:21:28.090
he goes underneath in the garage to have the first
2046
01:21:28.149 --> 01:21:30.329
fight where he cuts the guy's head off. So Michael's
2047
01:21:30.369 --> 01:21:32.149
in that. So I always joke with him. I was like, yep,
2048
01:21:32.210 --> 01:21:34.050
I follow in your footsteps. I got into the wrestling.
2049
01:21:34.069 --> 01:21:36.649
Now I'm doing the Highlander as well. Now you're in
2050
01:21:36.670 --> 01:21:38.810
the Vertical Short movie as well. Hell yeah.
2051
01:21:39.050 --> 01:21:41.810
Dude, honestly, I'm so stoked for the fucking Highlander. So
2052
01:21:41.829 --> 01:21:43.029
that's like my, I remember that movie.
2053
01:21:43.050 --> 01:21:45.109
I'm excited about it. Like, it's just crazy. It's like
2054
01:21:45.140 --> 01:21:46.640
people say to me, like, you know, what's the next
2055
01:21:46.659 --> 01:21:47.779
big one you can think of? I was like, I
2056
01:21:47.819 --> 01:21:50.079
don't really know because it was that and Braveheart. Unless
2057
01:21:50.100 --> 01:21:52.000
you remake Braveheart and make my boy Wallace or something
2058
01:21:52.020 --> 01:21:54.359
because he was actually a giant of a man. So
2059
01:21:54.380 --> 01:21:56.800
if you remake Braveheart, you know, make it historically accurate
2060
01:21:56.880 --> 01:21:57.600
and make him a giant.
2061
01:21:57.920 --> 01:21:59.840
Yeah, fuck yeah. That'd be awesome, man.
2062
01:21:59.880 --> 01:22:02.619
Well, much success. I really appreciate you taking the time.
2063
01:22:03.149 --> 01:22:05.449
Fucking awesome, man. Thank you so much for your time.
2064
01:22:05.470 --> 01:22:07.109
I appreciate it, bro. Great job. Cool.
2065
01:22:07.590 --> 01:22:09.270
Every Tuesday, I love you guys. Subscribe to the channel.
2066
01:22:09.590 --> 01:22:12.149
Check out The Real Short. So what platform is it on?
2067
01:22:12.590 --> 01:22:14.100
It's on The Real Short platform.
2068
01:22:15.359 --> 01:22:16.520
So that's the platform itself?
2069
01:22:16.659 --> 01:22:19.840
Yes, it's The Vertical Short. Microdrama is their code. And
2070
01:22:19.859 --> 01:22:22.300
then The Real Short is the platform where they'll see
2071
01:22:22.500 --> 01:22:22.819
The Agent.
2072
01:22:23.140 --> 01:22:24.720
And this is WWE-backed?
2073
01:22:25.100 --> 01:22:25.880
It is, yeah.
2074
01:22:25.920 --> 01:22:28.500
So you already know the production is going to be
2075
01:22:28.539 --> 01:22:30.020
fucking 10 out of 10.
2076
01:22:30.020 --> 01:22:34.319
Oh, yeah. We're running hard with the promotional aspect, and
2077
01:22:34.350 --> 01:22:36.770
there's going to be a trailer out very soon, if
2078
01:22:36.810 --> 01:22:37.510
it's not out already.
2079
01:22:37.949 --> 01:22:39.550
Go check it out, guys. Thank you for the support.
2080
01:22:39.569 --> 01:22:40.930
Thank you so much for coming on the show, man.
2081
01:22:40.989 --> 01:22:41.369
Thank you, yeah.