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Open Mic 6: Extra Cooler
5 Plays2 years ago
On this episode of Open Mic, it’s life imitating art as The MVP sits down with a friend of the show, as well as fellow Pod Foundation member, Nick Camia aka Extra Cooler! We talk about his art style, working with celebrities, the origin of the Extra Cooler name, and his future plans for his brand.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Open Mic with MVP Marco'
00:00:02
Speaker
What is up everyone? I'm back again.
00:00:25
Speaker
second week in a row.
Influence of the Pod Foundation
00:00:27
Speaker
Um, usually I try to space these out, but you know, this, this, the next person I have up is, you know, we, we couldn't wait for this, but, um, uh, we'll get to that in a few seconds, but I'd like to welcome everyone back to the, uh, to open mic with the MVP Marco, obviously on the MVP Marco. And, uh, the show's always brought to you by sponsored by powered by the pod foundation.
00:00:49
Speaker
I mean, if you don't know the pod foundation by now, um, like I always say, it's the greatest collection of wrestling minds or even minds in general since the NWO. Um, if you know what the NWO is, they were the game changers of wrestling back in the mid nineties. And they changed this, the landscape of what you see today. So that's what, that's what I consider ourselves of.
Pod Foundation Shows Overview
00:01:10
Speaker
And obviously if you don't know who we are, we are the turnbuckle tavern.
00:01:14
Speaker
We're also the extra cooler show. We are coming down the aisle. And last but not least, the brainchild behind it, the Chick Foley show, which I'm also a part of. Yeah, so you can hear me, obviously, pretty much everywhere. I'm on the Turnbuckle Tavern feed. I'm on Chick Foley, obviously. And I just make the rounds. I try to spread myself as much as I can, like a virus around the
00:01:41
Speaker
around the airwaves. So you're welcome, everyone. But enough of me.
Introduction to Extra Cooler Nick
00:01:46
Speaker
Let's get to my guests for this week. I'm pretty excited for this one because this person has been around since the beginning, pretty much, of the Chick-Fully show, even the Chick-Fully IG.
00:02:01
Speaker
Um, you know, if you listen to the episode, the first episode of open mic with Sheena, she actually mentioned this person, um, you know, in the humble beginnings of kind of like both of their, you know, you know, social media careers, essentially. And, um, this person just blew up and became like, uh, you know, pretty much like I say too big for us now. I think this person's kind of, I think this person's like, uh, you know, going Hollywood pretty much. And, uh,
00:02:29
Speaker
I've got none other than, uh, extra cooler. Nick, how are you? Thank you for having me and thank you for that introduction. I'm not going anywhere. I am a pod foundation for life. I wouldn't blame me if, uh, you know, someone comes knocking on your door, they need a personal, you know, artist or something like that. And, you know, are they, uh, some company comes and scoops you up? I mean, it's what, just remember us a little. No problem.
00:02:57
Speaker
Thank you for having me. Yeah. Yeah. No, thank you for being on. I'm like, this is like the, I mean, obviously we've spoken before and we've like, you know, DMD each other, you know, which I want to get into. That's probably the first, you know, question I want to get into, but yeah, we've, I mean, you're pretty much the, like the brainchild.
Nick's Artistic Journey
00:03:14
Speaker
I'm like part of the, I just do the ideas at you, but you're pretty much a brainchild of all the, like pretty much all the chick Foley show logos that we've had the, my favorite one. Hell yeah.
00:03:24
Speaker
that that
00:03:48
Speaker
Yeah, you came to me like probably around when NXT reintroduced their own Halloween havoc and you were like, we got to do this. Can we get it done? Of course.
00:03:57
Speaker
Yeah, man, like I said, you knocked out the part, obviously, it's C. Thank you. It's real special when you actually have a connection to someone like you, like an actual person that has a skill set. That is of course to us. Actually, that's my first question. What's it like to actually have a skill that you can use besides what we do, just flapping our gums?
00:04:21
Speaker
I am I'm very blessed and blessed to have this platform on podcast and social media to do what I've been doing for the last few years. And I don't know, whenever people say that to me, I'm like, Come on, everybody's got a talent. But maybe that's just the elementary art teacher in me that's constantly pushing confidence.
00:04:45
Speaker
That's a good thing. Everyone needs that little boost of confidence now. I think so. We know who has the skills and who doesn't. That talent to do what they do. But if you listen to the show enough, I'm self-deprecating, so I'm not going to say anything type of skill.
00:05:04
Speaker
So I will leave it at that. But I want to get into the the start of your of your journey into like extra cool like the inception. I mean, I'm pretty sure you talked about like how the name, you know, came about and stuff like that. But like, what got you? We'll get to the name and stuff. But what what got you into art, into drawing?
00:05:24
Speaker
So the drawing in general, I've always been interested in. My mother and my father would tell you stories of me as a kid constantly asking my parents and my grandparents to draw me pictures of Muppets.
00:05:39
Speaker
which is still something i love and my mom always knew she would tell you right now if she was on this podcast i don't even know if she knows what a podcast is but but but she would tell you that she always thought i was born to do something with art she never knew what you know here i am
00:05:59
Speaker
an elementary teacher, I'm at the same school for my, going on my 12th year. And, uh, yeah, it's pretty awesome. Um, and then I also have this extra cooler side gig going on. And, uh, so, so extra cooler started, uh, we just, I just had my six year anniversary, uh, back in August. Um, thank you again. So we were, you know, everybody's been on social media with their personal accounts for a while. And, um,
00:06:29
Speaker
It was the February before I started the account that I was just drawing and just on paper at that point, always drawing obviously, but I had this idea and some people would probably call BS on me, but you could go back in my tweets and I have the screenshots. I drew, I had this idea. I was like, I need to draw.
00:06:54
Speaker
current wrestlers at the time as Hasbro figures. And that was with no research whatsoever. So what I did was at the time Kevin Owens was red hot. I drew a picture of Kevin Owens as a Hasbro in the pose and everything. And I tweeted it out to a bunch of people I tweeted it out to
00:07:15
Speaker
Kevin Owens himself, who ended up responding to my tweet, Sam Roberts, Ryan Satin, Stack Eye Greg, all people who retweeted it. And I basically was like, does this have any legs? And they all encouraged me to kind of move forward with it. And at that moment, I was super busy with work. I was getting married that year. So things were crazy.
00:07:42
Speaker
And that summer we were going to the Barclays SummerSlam. We had been the previous year, and this was our second year there. And I was like, I need something to wear. I have the original WrestleMania 5 shirt with Mega Powers Explode that I pretty much was wearing to every event at the time. And I was like, I need something different. I didn't want something like the generic WWE shop.
00:08:11
Speaker
So I was like, let me draw something. So my favorite wrestler of all time is Shawn Michaels. So I drew his Hasbro figure and I had it printed, put it on a shirt. And it was literally like probably a month before that summer slam when I started extra cooler.
00:08:29
Speaker
I was originally the extra cooler, I ditched the V. And I reached out to Sheena, like that was literally one of the first people I'd followed her on my private personal account. And I reached out to her and I was like, Hey, what do you think I can do with this? You know, you're, you're doing a lot of cool stuff here on social media, any pointers you can give me and and she helped me tremendously with my early following especially. And I
00:08:56
Speaker
I started the account about a week before, two weeks before, went to Barclays. There were a few people that, you know, I had one guy on the train on Ride Down who messaged me. He was like, dude, you're sitting on the same train as me, I think. Because I posted a picture of the shirt. And I had a few people who came, you know, came up to me, they said they either liked the shirt, or, you know, they just started following me. And things just kind of took off, you know, I use that as motivation at the time. And
00:09:24
Speaker
The early on, I was drawing a lot of Hasbro's, which there's a guy out there, Jason Wolf, who was ended up was doing that, you know, during my, my off time and I reached out to him and we've conversed and he's a cool dude. But yeah, he's got no issues with me doing this as well. I was completely blind to it all.
00:09:47
Speaker
And then I got kind of tired of drawing the Hasbro's to be honest and I started branching out.
Balancing Art Commissions and Creativity
00:09:53
Speaker
You know, cartoons have always been my style that I've been known for. So I kind of went with that and now I'm, holy crap, I'm all over the place with everything I'm drawing. I can't pinpoint anything in particular, any particular style.
00:10:09
Speaker
I apologize in advance for the amount of times I'm going to reference the fact that I'm an art teacher, but I think because I teach kids so many different styles, I can't quite pick one. Like if you looked at my Instagram, you wouldn't find just like one style throughout the whole thing.
00:10:26
Speaker
Oh yeah, definitely. And that's something you, yeah, you'll definitely notice if you go to, I mean, more recently anyway, I've been following you. So I think probably, you know, Sheena, because the way like, the way I like went around was like, it was, I started following, you know, the wrestling classic, which was, I think he was the first one I started following on Instagram as far as wrestling goes. And then through him, I found Sheena.
00:10:48
Speaker
Um, and then through she and I found, found you extra cool. Yeah. You know, she, we talked about that on the, you know, the first episode where she, you know, her main thing with that, her account was like to help others, you know, they put others over. Right. And she sure did.
00:11:04
Speaker
Yeah. And she, she definitely helped out with a lot of that stuff. And if you do go to your early, early works, it is a lot of, you know, he said retro figures and stuff like that. But now you can't, like you said, you can't even pinpoint what type of one day it could be like the Ghostbusters. They will be some obscure, like, um,
00:11:25
Speaker
Yes, Mr. Perfect or something like that might show up but in a cartoon form but then it might be you just have so many different like styles of art like do you have a favorite style you like to do or does like when you get ready to you know put something down it just like it just comes to you right then and there and
00:11:42
Speaker
Yeah, sometimes I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I get inspired by what other people are doing.
Navigating Social Media for Art Promotion
00:11:49
Speaker
And, you know, I try and gauge what people want to see, which I know sometimes I'm like, I shouldn't be doing this. I should just be drawing whatever the hell I want. But, you know, that's kind of the motivation here is, you know, people enjoying what I'm putting out there. Approach, like, overall, what is it? What do you love to do the most?
00:12:16
Speaker
Did I lose you?
00:12:28
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's really hard for me to pinpoint one favorite style. I mean, I'm like a kick of doing some realistic portraits, but then I always end up finding myself back to these like silly little cartoons because they're quick and I kind of use them to warm up and then they turn and it's just, it's really wild. Every time I try and do something that's non-wrestling related, every one of my followers is kind of like, I'm not going to hit the like button on this. Yeah.
00:12:58
Speaker
But some do some do so, you know, I'm forever grateful and that just people let me mess around on here
00:13:07
Speaker
Oh yeah. Like I said, I'm assuming you get a lot of, are you still doing commissions and stuff like that? Yes. I always tell people my commissions are always open. Going back to the early days, I was doing a lot of prints on Etsy and then I wanted to reach out to other companies like Chalkline and
00:13:33
Speaker
galleries 1988.
First Pro Wrestling Art Gig and Opportunities
00:13:35
Speaker
I've done work for some of their shows. So I was like, you know what, I can't really be messing around too much with the intellectual property and trying to sell that, you know, because I have gotten some cease and desist in the past, which are never fun. But, you know, the commissions are always open is what I tell everybody.
00:13:58
Speaker
Yeah. And obviously everyone has their own, like, you know, their own idea of what they want. Yes. Oh, without a doubt. Yeah. And you're not really, you know, you know, hopefully you don't get any cease and desist. No, because sometimes because I haven't seen it recently or maybe I just haven't noticed. But have you been I remember you when you do like a commission, you would kind of you would show you would kind of post it on your on your page. Yeah, I do.
00:14:24
Speaker
So it's interesting. I've been trying to play the for anybody that's on Instagram and trying to like build themselves. They're messing around with their algorithm for a while now. So yeah, I mean, I've been trying to trying to beat the algorithm. And
00:14:41
Speaker
trying to feed into these silly little reels, which I can't stand. But, you know, I, I try and post things here and there that I think people would appreciate. And sometimes when I do stuff privately, I just kind of keep it to myself. If I think, you know, it's really the hardest part is
00:15:02
Speaker
There's all different types of people that come to you when they look for commissions. There's some people that are like, hey, I need a logo. Can you draw me something? And it's like, well, what are your ideas? What are you looking for? And then we go from there. And then there's other people who know, like, you know, like the stuff with Chick Foley show is always great because it's like, hey, here's what I want to do. How do we do it?
00:15:26
Speaker
And then I come up with a rough sketch and then we hammer it out. Um, so there's, there's different challenges in those things. And then you got some people come to you with an idea and then you go and pull something off and then.
00:15:39
Speaker
they want their input. And, you know, you try and politely say, well, I would recommend doing it this way. You know, it's it's a very fine line. But I try and share what I can when I can. And then unfortunately, some things I can't share. And then I forget to post it when the time comes.
00:16:00
Speaker
the fifth
00:16:28
Speaker
That was like the, just bring, you brought that character to life. So yeah, no, thank you. Chad's always great. Cause he's like, Hey, I want to do this. Like what, what can we do with this? And then we kind of like just work together and bounce things off of each other. I'll send them like a sketch and I'll be like, can we add a little bit of this year and a little bit of that there, a little more blood. And, uh, you know, it's always fun working with people like that who give you some creative freedom, but also have input because the input really helps.
00:16:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. He actually did. He did the the open mic logo for me, which I'm very thankful. Yes. Pretty much I gave him the idea of like kind of wanted to like it kind of has like a night show vibe to it. Oh, totally stuff like that. So like that's how I was pretty much going for it. He he he nailed it there. And you know, it's perfect.
00:17:15
Speaker
yeah the photo that you guys did with their mascot it has it has their flair to it yes when you look at obviously when you look at your artwork you know it's extra cooler just by the way it looks thank you it's like this piece is almost like a collaboration yes i mean you and them you can tell by like like the lettering the terminal tavern right right
00:17:35
Speaker
Lettering stuff like that, but then it's your artwork in the middle, which is which is pretty awesome But you just go down the line obviously like I think ace face field retro you did his logo as well, which is yes Tom as well. We're working together on a new one for him This week. Yeah. Yeah, he's got some cool ideas you know that fits him fits him in his persona and his interests and
00:17:59
Speaker
Yeah, awesome. And obviously, you know, Chad also did my the MVP Marco logo to just want to win. Oh, nice. I didn't even ask him for that. He actually did that like out of out of the kindness of his heart because he was like, you know, you're part of the you're part of the tavern now. He's like, right as well. You know, you might as well have a logo. So he actually did that and actually worked to, you know, my advantage and my benefit, too, because now I have like, you know, something to work off of it.
00:18:23
Speaker
that's always something I want to rework at some point, too. Obviously, you'll be the guy to reach out to. Thank you. Yeah, so that's definitely coming down the pike for me. But, you know, we'll go into, you know, obviously, you've done a lot of in-house stuff, and you've done a lot of outside work as well. So
00:18:42
Speaker
You know who, first of all, how did you get into doing like commissions for not just like, you know, just us regular Joes, but like, you know, kind of like the stars out there in the, in the wrestling world. How did that, how did that come about? So it's really funny. Uh,
00:18:57
Speaker
There used to be a guy on Twitter, I don't think he's out there anymore. It's when I first started around six years ago. He used to run a Twitter account for pro wrestling tees. And I think he would go out and like search for artwork. And I reached out to him thinking it was pro wrestling tees. And anyway, he got me
00:19:15
Speaker
My first gig was doing artwork for Edge at the time. And I drew up an Edge shirt that was, and I think it's probably, well, I don't know if it's on Pro Wrestling T's anymore since his return to WWE. But I drew him up as Hasbro and Edge totally dug it, which was really cool. And then that was a freebie too. I got a copy of the shirt out of it. But at that point I was like, this is awesome. This is all I want.
00:19:45
Speaker
And then I did one for Sam Roberts. Again, this was all during the early Hasbro days.
00:19:54
Speaker
And then I started to kind of branch out and I'm sure I'm gonna like jump around the timeline. But we did, I hooked up with Ted wrestling for sale. And he invited me to his first ever pop up in Brooklyn. And I ended up meeting some amazing people. That's where I linked up with Brian Dipperstein and Peter Rosenberg. And also Matt Cardona who was Zack Ryder at the time.
00:20:23
Speaker
And that was right before they started their podcast. And about like two weeks after that SummerSlam, Matt reached out to me and was like, Hey man, we're starting a podcast. I need some help with some artwork. And, you know, pretty much, I like to say I was the original artist for their show. And at the time I was illustrating children's books, so things were kind of busy. So I did a few designs for them and,
00:20:52
Speaker
Yeah, man, it's it's wild. It's really wild because before I met him, I sent him a Hasbro illustration of himself in that WrestleMania gear when he won the ladder match and he posted it on his Instagram and his Twitter. And from there on out, my social media like exploded. That was really when things kind of took off. Yeah, I mean, I've noticed that too. And you've worked with him recently. Yes.
00:21:19
Speaker
for the because he was he he recently got the 13th spot in the PWI 500. And you did like kind of like the Friday, the 13th inspired Mac Cardona. Yeah. Well, that was pretty that was that was pretty intense. But I'm glad to see that, you know, he still reaches out to you for those things. And he's yes.
Cross-Promotional Efforts and Community Building
00:21:42
Speaker
You've done a couple of other things before that. Right. With him. Yes. More recently. Yeah.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah, he's very loyal guy. That's the one thing is that a lot of the people that I've connected with through this social media, everybody's very loyal to each other. And that's one of the great parts about it, whether it's like us with the Pod Foundation or people through my art that I've reached out to, just a lot of good people out there, which just is fun.
00:22:12
Speaker
Oh, yeah, definitely. Obviously, you know, you know, you hook it up with like, you know, the pot foundation stuff like that, like everyone within that group is, you know, we're all pretty amazing. Obviously, we, you know, yes, all good people.
00:22:24
Speaker
You know, we poke, we poke fun at each other because, you know, we're dedicated marks of our, you know, of our organization. So, you know, you have to turn a couple of guys that are AW through and through. And you have pretty much the rest of us that are WWE shills and marks and stuff like that. But we all get along and we all, you know, as you can see, we all cross pollinate pretty much right now, like, you know, Seth and Jordan are on the long ball show that they have that football show that they do. So like they're starting to do more stuff with them.
00:22:52
Speaker
And obviously, I'm on the raw down on their feed and stuff like that. And just getting that collaboration, like you said, the loyalty is definitely what you need in the IWC because- Without a doubt. Yeah, I spoke to
00:23:09
Speaker
Marie shadows on a few episodes back we talked about like, you know that the negativity that happens in the oh without a doubt Yeah, there's tons of it. Oh Yeah, so like we talked about like that, you know it even over the moonsault when I interviewed her She talked about like all the she's in it for the you know, the connections that she makes yes people that people that she beats of the you know the different you know people down the line that she can collaborate with and stuff like that so
00:23:36
Speaker
Hell yeah. We linked up with when we would go to those Brooklyn shows because of social media, we linked up with some people that then kind of became our pre-game and post-game buddies where we'd go meet them at a bar and have some drinks and have some food and just people we met through wrestling and through social media. That's awesome. That's what makes it so much fun.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. And I was actually thinking of something where so since you were doing those like retro, like newer looking retro figures, like you took like Kevin Owens and made him a retro. Yes. Would you do I mean, was that before they actually started the retro series? Oh, so I didn't get there. The funny part is and I have to see if I can find the drawing to send you.
00:24:27
Speaker
the Kevin Owens one that I did is near it was before these figures were even announced that they were going to do them. And there's a little bit of me that's a little salty because the Kevin Owens pose is in nearly identical pose that that figure came out in. And
00:24:45
Speaker
Yeah. Oh man. Cause I was like, wait, he's been off for six years. Yeah. Um, pretty much. And that, and I think it's four years ago or five years ago, the red, the first, yes, I'm getting nerdy right now, but, um, the first retro wave, um, was I think, uh, maybe a year after you or two years after you.
Collaborating with Chalk Line and IP Challenges
00:25:08
Speaker
Um, so I mean, yeah, you never know if i'm you i'm looking for uh, some uh, I know royalties, right? Right. I know. Oh man At least for the kevin owen to be not the whole line. No, maybe the intellectual property who knows because yeah, you Yeah, from thinking now i'm thinking you're pretty much the first one to do like modern You know today's wrestlers in the old right retro pose. So
00:25:34
Speaker
the fifth
00:25:50
Speaker
We talked about chalk line and stuff like that so like yes there was a time where you're trying to get get on chalk line and stuff like that but like I want to talk about how we like kind of stealthily and sneakily got your design in a chalk line by all the like created those chick fully like pretty much limited edition
00:26:10
Speaker
Yeah shorts with all your logos on it pretty much like all your obviously we all had a hand and you know Yeah, some of those and helping, you know and giving you the ideas and stuff, but that's you right there That's like your first it was so it's funny. I actually had
00:26:30
Speaker
Met them over at chalk line and then just like, you know, whether it was just not the right time things just didn't work out at the time and then
00:26:42
Speaker
you guys, the Chick Foley show did those shorts and it was after that that I asked, I asked that Sheena and Seth had reached out to chalk line just kind of like slipping my name in there. And then also there's Mosh who does custom sneakers who everybody
00:27:01
Speaker
Everybody pride knows he does you know tons of football players basketball players wrestlers He and I actually went to college together and took a lot of our art classes together Yes, so he did a limited run around one of the Wrestle manias. I think the New York WrestleMania and He put my name out there as well. So it was probably
00:27:24
Speaker
last, it was June 2021, when I reached out to chalk line once again, about designing something for them. And it never saw the light of day. And this is like the saddest story to me, because so mind you, this is June, right? June 2021. You know, when you create artwork for this, there's a lot of like legal stuff that you have to go through and approval.
00:27:51
Speaker
So the idea that I pitched to Chalk Line was we were approaching the anniversary, the 30th anniversary of the greatest Royal Rumble ever, 1992 Royal Rumble.
00:28:01
Speaker
And the idea was to recreate that iconic poster, um, which had like all the guys and the, you know, the, the alleyway. And, uh, so we were going through the process that June of, um, you know, who we could keep. Like at the time Jake didn't have a legends deal, so Jake couldn't be included. So Jake was for those people don't remember Jake is front and center of that poster.
00:28:27
Speaker
So I had to replace him. So I selfishly put Sean Michaels in his place. And I was about, I would say probably like 75% done with the back artwork of this, like redrawing everything. And it looks awesome if I don't say so myself.
00:28:46
Speaker
And I was away with Matt, who is on my podcast, which I've yet to mention, which I want to mention the extra cooler show. We were on vacation with our families and Ric Flair got released from WWF or WWE. And anybody that knows the 1992 Royal Rumble, it is famous because
00:29:08
Speaker
of Ric Flair. So I reached out to Chalk Line, and I was like, this is not good, is it? And he goes, nope. He goes, I'm really sorry. And the jacket fell to the wayside. And little backstory with Chalk Line, they had hundreds of Ric Flair sequence jackets based off of this robe that they have in stock that they couldn't move because he was no longer under contract.
00:29:36
Speaker
Um, so then, you know, I was determined to find something and I went back to the well of Hasbro's and, uh, my best friend, Jim, who I've been best friends with since second grade, he, he came up with the idea. He goes.
00:29:49
Speaker
why don't you take one of those old Hasbro commercials and recreate that on a jacket? So for those who might remember, it was Macho Man a lot of the time. Once he was the announcer on Superstars, he was in the commercials playing with the toys. So what I did was I drew up a Macho Man, illustrated him, and re-illustrated all the guys, the Hasbro ring, and right around, little after WrestleMania,
00:30:17
Speaker
in 2022, that jacket came to life, my first chalk line jacket. And if I don't say it, it's bright, it's flashy, but man, I love that thing.
00:30:28
Speaker
Yeah, no, I I I own it. Yes. Thank you. I think I wore it on. You did. I think on raw down, I think. Yes. On streams. Yeah. Yeah. That's it's an awesome jacket. And like I said, thank you. That's that story. Just, you know, we were just like because I remember you telling us that story about like, you know, how that almost happened with chocolate and then it didn't. And then with the shorts came into play. It was like, yes, I got your foot in the door.
00:30:57
Speaker
, and
00:31:20
Speaker
through chocolate
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah. So it's actually like, that's the funny thing is that WWE does not have the right to those Hasbro figures, believe it or not. Yeah. So it's funny. Like when I, when the jacket was about to be released, it was like that morning and I knew they were going to post it on social media. I sent pictures to Matt Cardona and he, his immediate reaction was in all caps and like a million exclamation marks and question marks. How?
00:32:13
Speaker
He's like, how did they pull this off? And so believe it or not, Chalk Line took responsibility for it. And they had to sign a waiver with WWE that if Hasbro came after them for legal rights, then Chalk Line would bite the bullet on it, which apparently they've done before. But pretty cool that they were willing to take that chance and not to brag too much, but the jacket sold out.
00:32:42
Speaker
overnight, uh, the first night that it was released. So, you know, that was a great feeling. Just all that hard work, you know, coming to fruition. Yeah. I remember, uh, you know, people kind of complaining that they couldn't get a, get one. Yeah. I mean, I mean, were you surprised that way? Yes. Yeah. I was, I was, I was shocked. Cause you know, I have a chat with, with my three best friends, uh, Matt, Jim and Mike and, and.
00:33:12
Speaker
I remember waking up in the morning and Jim is a little bit more of a night owl and he goes, dude, it's sold out. I woke up to a text and just wild, very surreal feeling.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah, so do you still kind of work with Chalk Line and WWE? So we're still in touch. The hardest part right now is with everything going on in the climate in the world. It's like shipping and manufacturing has become an issue for them with certain things. So you're kind of hard.
00:33:49
Speaker
Like, for example, if I created that Hasbro jacket and, you know, one of those guys Legends deal expired, that would have been pretty brutal because, you know, there I could replace a guy. But, you know, you have to be careful of what you're creating just in case you put all that work into it and this guy get flushed down the toilet. Yeah, that's that. That is very true. What about like your
Managing Art, Teaching, and Family
00:34:29
Speaker
I would with all the stuff that they're doing, I feel like they've really expanded beyond
00:34:36
Speaker
beyond just WWE, which is what we as wrestling fans mainly know them as. But if you ever look at their website, they have so much right now. It's literally everything. Yeah, no, it's definitely something in the back of my mind. Unfortunately, sometimes there's just so many different things that I'm working on for people that you lose track of things. And it's tough, man, especially balancing a full-time job.
00:35:06
Speaker
a family with two kids, you know, it's I'm sure you know, you know, and then and then on top of it, you know, a podcast is like, what, what did I get myself into sometimes? Yeah, totally. I speak about this, I think every episode where it's literally a second job, like it's almost like a second without a doubt job almost, but it's still a job because it's a lot of preparation, obviously, that goes into, you know, without a doubt.
00:35:34
Speaker
like a
00:35:57
Speaker
that I could bring up to her because I don't have a regular conversation with her. This is the first time I'm actually speaking with her. So that was a lot. You're in fear of actually liking a picture or two.
00:36:11
Speaker
Yeah, you don't want to be a creeper. Yeah, I actually said that to her. She started laughing. It's true though. It's true, man. I haven't spoken enough about like, and I don't mean to like give a cheap plug, but man, the work we do like on our podcast, the extra cooler show is just, it's another job essentially. And, and I love it. It's, uh, for us, we record on Tuesday nights and it breaks up the week. It's.
00:36:39
Speaker
It's incredible. It's something I look forward to. Yeah. Well, definitely, definitely want to get into the, uh, to the inception of the show and stuff like that. But, uh, the name extra cooler. Yes. Where's, where's, where's that come from?
00:36:52
Speaker
Okay, so I've told the story a few times. So those people who have heard it before, I apologize. When I was a kid, I was, you know, we've talked about it on this podcast right now. I was Ghostbusters obsessed, just like most people my age. And Ghostbusters 2 was about to come out. My uncle was working in advertising, writing commercials.
00:37:16
Speaker
And at the time, uh, his agency had a contract with Hi-C and
Expanding into Children's Books and Gallery Shows
00:37:21
Speaker
Hi-C, Hi-C had a, uh, had a citrus flavored drink that they had. Um, I forget what it was called. I don't even know if they had like flashy names at the time.
00:37:31
Speaker
But the Ghostbusters 2 was looking was coming out and they were looking to turn this citrus drink into a Ghostbusters themed drink. So I can still remember it clear as day we were at a family Christmas party a few weeks before Christmas and at the time I was in second or third grade and my uncle.
00:37:50
Speaker
Came to me, he goes, explain the whole process. He's like, they're trying to rename this drink. Here are three choices. I told them I have a nephew who loves Ghostbusters. You're right in the perfect age range that they're trying to target. And, uh,
00:38:05
Speaker
He laid the names out and Ectocooler was the one that I picked and he'll still tell you the story the same way I do. I was paid heavily in a case of Ectocooler and an inflatable Stegosaurus that my sister later popped, a life-size Stegosaurus, mind you.
00:38:27
Speaker
So that was how High Sea and Coca-Cola paid me. And years later, when they came out with that all female Ghostbusters, I reached out to Coca-Cola and told them my story obnoxiously. And they sent me a case of that reboot, Ecto Cooler, and like the promo package that they were sending out, which I thought was pretty cool. So anyway, I
00:38:53
Speaker
I was trying to come up with a name and I was like, I didn't want to use my regular name. Uh, and Jim is basically like one of the most creative people and I always say he could.
00:39:05
Speaker
He could sell you garbage, you know, he just, his words are always perfect. And, uh, he goes, what about extra cooler? Um, at the time, like my, all my other social media hander handles were the ecto cooler, which I had since high school on like, uh, AOL messenger. And, uh, uh, yeah, so we went with the, at the time it was the extra cooler. Eventually I just ditched the, the, and, uh, here I am extra cooler.
00:39:34
Speaker
it has a great ring to it too because it's almost sounds like ecto cooler yeah it one of the you're probably this i mean the second person i know that's like obsessed with uh ghost sponsors my buddy j um i think i might actually have to reach out to him so he could reach out to you so you could like see if he wants to do a commission through you because he literally has a room in his house in his basement
00:39:58
Speaker
of the
00:40:16
Speaker
that's incredible
00:40:36
Speaker
the I think he he I think he might have the most insane Ghostbusters I'm sure I've ever seen like I might have to I might have to get him to send pictures he see totally it's incredible it's it it's a big room and he literally every single figure
00:40:52
Speaker
Wow, every single like, you know, everything that the the Ecto one, he has like, yes, original figure like it's insane. So he'll love it. I'm going to tell him actually listen to this episode because, yeah, totally. He'll be happy to know that I'm speaking to the person that actually. Yeah. Of the Ecto cooler. Right. He said, you're like, what the hell? Yeah. Yeah. Is anything Ghostbusters inspired that comes out or any route? He wasn't too happy with the the all
00:41:22
Speaker
No We won't talk about that. But no was very excited when they start coming out with like, you know They reboot the ice creams or yes, he said rebooting the the actor cooler like juice and stuff like that He always goes back goes back and buys it. So yeah, that's um, that's I mean ghost rest is always gonna be a thing That's gonna be oh without a doubt. I think it's it that's not going anywhere. It's something type of iteration of it's gonna pop up Oh without a doubt So that I want to move on to like
00:41:53
Speaker
, and
00:42:12
Speaker
like
00:42:26
Speaker
Uh, ultimately it's, it's the reaction, um, the reaction and just like the, the satisfaction that someone gets when they see the final piece. Um, and even if it's just like something, like someone sharing my artwork onto their story or hitting the like button or dropping a comment, it sounds so cheesy, but like six years in it's those little things that are like, wow, someone out there appreciates, you know,
00:42:51
Speaker
my silly idea or or what I'm doing you know and then on top of it just like you know whether it's my four-year-old thinking it's cool what I'm drawing on the iPad that morning when we're sitting on the couch watching TV or you know my students
00:43:08
Speaker
you know, it's there's a lot of motivating factors. You know, Matt on our show is we joke he's my my advisor. He's been the advisor since day one kind of pushing me to do certain things. So he's really like a huge motivating factor as well.
00:43:26
Speaker
the right
00:43:45
Speaker
you know, even other podcasts outside are huge motivators. Like I know, oh, totally back to logos. I know you do like other stuff for like other podcasts as well. And one of the a couple other ones I listened to that I actually I actually own their their first hoodie that they that has your design on it is for black announced table. Yes. It's like the globe with the two bats.
00:44:09
Speaker
Oh, yes, I love that wire around. Yeah, actually. So they, you know, they they release that as a like a limited edition hoodie, I think earlier this year. Yes. Definitely during winter because I was like, holy crap, that's a six sweater. But I didn't know that was your design. Right. Right. Even on your page. I was like, I was like, holy crap. I was like, I know. I love that one. I noticed you do like a lot of stuff for I think you did.
00:44:33
Speaker
I think it was a De La Soul inspired. Yes, for them as well. It was like an anniversary of the day. They like to refresh, you know, what they're doing. And and yes, De La Soul album cover that we redid. They have a great social media guy over there. And Stack Eye Greg was actually who put me in touch with them. So I'm forever grateful for like just people passing along my name. That right there is motivating like, oh, wow, that guy put me, you know,
00:45:02
Speaker
I got put over by that guy. Really bad person. And it's a thing where like, even like you, like, you know, us interacting with you and you know, us, you know, kind of like, we're like friends and stuff like that. And I see stuff like that where I'm like, and that goes to bringing it back to like your, your different type of artwork. Like I didn't think you would be able to, not that you, right. Right. Right. Like that's something I wouldn't expect you to do. That's like,
00:45:28
Speaker
, I get it
00:45:53
Speaker
It's wild, right? Small world. It's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like
00:46:22
Speaker
see your talent and they, and they wake up and they go, oh yeah, maybe they got the idea from, you know, Chick Foley. They seem like the different designs. Maybe they're like, oh wow. I mean, if he's doing that for them, maybe he could do that for us. That's always the hope. Yeah. That's what I always say. I always say to people, like it's a joke.
00:46:40
Speaker
you know, like tag the artist, man, because that's all you have to do is like, you type in the artist's name, any artist, like if you repost their work or anything, it's amazing how far things like that go. Because some people will just keep scrolling, whereas others will take the time to explore the work and follow and reach out.
00:47:03
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Um, so as far as influences go, who, who, how did you like, who influenced you to start drawing? Obviously you spoke about your parents and stuff like that, but like, as far as like your art style goes, who do you, who do you look at as like your inspiration for, you know, yeah. So different styles.
00:47:23
Speaker
My go-to artist, when people ask me who your favorite artist is, I always say Jim Henson. Jim Henson, for those who don't know, is the creator of the Muppets and Sesame Street. You know, I alluded to this earlier. It's something I've always been obsessed with as a kid before wrestling, you know, and something I'm still
00:47:46
Speaker
like in love with the characters from the Muppets. It's something I've watched with my boys all the time. So that's and it's funny, because that's not really known for its illustrations. But it's just something that's always motivated me and inspired me. Yeah. And the the thing I because I love artwork, too, is not like, you know, fancy artwork, but I guess right.
00:48:11
Speaker
comic book art and stuff like that. Yes. It's things that stand out to you. Like each artist has their own unique style of art, obviously, you know, right when you see it, you know, it's that person like right back in the early 90s. And I mean, you're probably familiar with this, you know, the you know, the like round like ninety one, ninety two.
00:48:33
Speaker
Marvel when they hired like, you know Rob Liefeld and right Todd Rick Farland and Jim Jim Lee and all those guys I'm like they each brought a different style of artwork To Marvel at the time and I so follows. Yeah, those are those are totally artists like I Jim Lee's one of my favorites. Yes. I love Todd Rick Farland like he's like yes on Instagram and he does those like, you know, let's do a quick, uh, right that man and no just like I
00:48:58
Speaker
I know exactly what you mean.
00:49:05
Speaker
That's like, yeah, we'll just do this. We'll just throw this line here and this line. And it's like, dude, you just drew like something that I, that I, for like, for, for my, like most of my life. And then you just did it like 10 seconds. It's crazy. But, um, like, do you, do you pull from like, are you a comic, were you a comic book fan at well? Did you believe it or not? It's always something that has inspired me, but it's just something I.
00:49:30
Speaker
something I felt like I can never nail down that style. And it's still something that like, it's not like my kryptonite, but just something that I can't grab ahold of and really like hammer down when I'm drawing, no matter how much I try. If you give me a picture of something, I can copy it and recreate it. But to create my own style, it's just something that has always gotten away from me.
00:49:59
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, if you look at like the earlier stuff, like Jack Kirby, for those that don't know, Jack Kirby's like pretty much like the goat in the comic world. Like that style wasn't like too crazy and too detailed. No, but it like it, you know, it.
00:50:17
Speaker
It did its job, and it is iconic. If you go back, there's a lot of comic book artists that copied his style, not copied it, but took inspiration from him and built on what he set the standard as when it came to his artwork and stuff like that. Do you think anyone that's looking at your page and that's an artist out there, do you see that yourself? Do you see yourself as an influence to other
00:50:46
Speaker
Um, it's out there anything like that. I know it's kind of a weird question. Yeah, no thought of it
00:50:52
Speaker
No, I honestly, I haven't. And again, going back to it, you know, being a teacher, I, my kids, I teach elementary, so it's pre-K through fifth grade. And, you know, to them, I'm like their favorite artist or the best artist. And I'm always like, no, guys, that's that's not true. But thank you for making my head bigger, because my wife would would absolutely love to hear this. You know, it's
00:51:22
Speaker
I hope so because there's artists out there that motivate me tremendously. Like I couldn't even rattle off. There's tons that I've met over the six years and become friendly with, you know, I don't want to name any because I know I'm going to leave people out. Yeah, I could probably name a few. So there's no, so when I had Figure Kingdom on, he spoke about there was kind of like, you know,
00:51:52
Speaker
There's kind of like animosity sometimes between like the different, you know, figure photographers and stuff like this. It is competitive. Of course. There aren't a lot. There's a lot of great ones out there. And there's a lot of not. Yeah, of course. You could tell who's who's who when it comes to like the figure photography out there. Just use an example. Do you see the same in in that like in the art world with like with wrestling rules? We'll just.
00:52:18
Speaker
So when, when I first started, uh, it was, it definitely felt like that. Uh, it, you know, it, it without a doubt felt like that. And as a matter of fact, I had, I had issues with, with a guy who was doing the Hasbro as I was doing them. And a lot of people were kind of saying to me like, Oh, this guy's copying your style. I'm like, no, he's doing his own thing. Let him do his own thing. He's having fun, whatever. And, uh,
00:52:45
Speaker
And someone reposted his work and commented, you know, people like to stir the pot and they like, they think they're looking out for you when really they're just like, you know, ruffling people's feathers. And, you know, the guy was a little upset about it. And years later, he ended up, you know, I ended up reaching out to him originally, like being like, Hey, man, you know, I know people are saying this, but there's no bad blood on my hands. You know, we're good.
00:53:12
Speaker
ended up blocking me for whatever reason and then years later came back to me and kind of like apologized and you know, we cleared the air and but I haven't seen that side of people in a while. I have I have had artists who have
00:53:29
Speaker
It's very interesting. I've had artists who have reached out to me and asked me what I charge my commission rate for other wrestlers. And then you have a conversation with them, you give them tips and tricks and things that you've learned a long way, but then they don't even have the decency to follow you back. So it's a strange fickle world that we live in, this social media land. But
00:53:56
Speaker
Going back to like influence, I hope there's someone that looks at my work and says like, Oh man, I want that guy makes me want to draw more, you know, not necessarily draw the way I do, but, but makes me want to draw, you know, uh, currently right now, uh, this is the second, uh, October that, uh, Marge dot JPG.
00:54:17
Speaker
Is running a sketch a mania out there i didn't get a chance to participate in but she's an incredible artist and if you look at the hashtag sketch a mania. There's like a ton of incredibly talented people out there who are drawing you know wrestling images and it's highly recommended you'll find some really good artists out there by just following that hashtag.
00:54:41
Speaker
Oh, yeah, definitely. There's like, you know, there's like you said, you can't name all the artists out there, but they're they're definitely like there's a couple that I phone and actually, you know, there's there's one. It's a Jedi Jackie Eddie. Have you? Oh, he's great. Yeah, he's a great dude. Yeah, his I think like his artwork kind of reminds me of like that, like.
00:55:03
Speaker
Not Todd McFarlane type of like, it's like really detailed, like, it's like, oh, without a doubt, it looks like he, it takes him like a year to like our work. And obviously, you know, um, he, I actually, he, I actually purchased, uh, he had a, he had a poetry book.
00:55:21
Speaker
a yes
00:55:39
Speaker
Yeah, nolanium. Yeah, nolanium is is really awesome, too. Like another thing is a lot of those podcasts, they reach out to those guys as well for, you know, shirts and, you know, logos and stuff like that. So and I like I said, I haven't seen anything for me anyway, like as far as like like beef or anything between, you know, I know stuff like that. But like I know I know for a fact, like for like even when figure came to mention, you know, the figure photographers are like that, I could definitely
00:56:06
Speaker
Definitely see that. Yeah, that's really competitive because now when you're in this game with figures, you're trying to go for like that job with ringside or right job with a Mattel or jazzwares or something like that. So it's really competitive where where you as an artist, you don't have to kind of worry about that. You can you know, you know, you're not you're technically not looking to get someone's attention. No. Yeah. And like the one piece of advice I always give people is like,
00:56:36
Speaker
And I did in the beginning, you give away your work, but then I had someone who at one point told me like, whatever you do, like it's okay to give away a little bit or give a discount, but make sure you're making money off of it because you're taking your time to do this. And, uh, you know, not everything has to be fan art. There's, there's a time and a place for fan art. Um, but you know, when you're, when you're just giving away artwork left and right, that's, that's your time that you could be doing something with.
00:57:01
Speaker
if
00:57:12
Speaker
Let's go into Nick. Let's let's separate extra cooler. Okay. Let's talk about Nick. Let's what, what are your, what are your other interests? Interest? We sounds like artwork and, you know, obviously wrestling. That's what brings us together. That's what, you know, you know, keeps us together as a family. That's how we say, right? But what do you, what do you, what do you like besides wrestling?
00:57:33
Speaker
It's uh, it's pretty, it's like, it's going to sound pretty cookie cutter, but man, outside of my job, uh, you know, it's my wife, my two boys. Um, and then outside of that, you know, any opportunity to go out and, you know, whether it's get some lunch or.
00:57:49
Speaker
get a beer and, you know, outside of that, interest-wise, music has always been a huge role in my life from a very young age, from as early as I can remember, probably just as much as any of my artwork. And I might even say, if not more, you know, music's always on, whether it's
00:58:13
Speaker
in my, my headphones or in the car or in my classroom or the second I get home, you know, it's just something that's, that's always been there. And then sports like outside of wrestling, it's, you know, football, baseball, and a little bit of basketball here and there.
00:58:30
Speaker
But man, I know you know this, but anybody that has kids can attest to the fact that it is hard to find time for everything. Oh, yeah. I was gonna bring up the fact where like, you know, you talk about like listening to music and stuff like that. And, you know, the stuff I used to listen to when I was younger, I can't listen to around my kids. Oh, no, no, not anymore. Not anymore. That's like, even I'm catching myself trying to find like a
00:58:58
Speaker
like an edited version of a song or right you know it's true like clean playlist to play because they're getting into music there you know right and you want to expose them to that yeah they have a six year old and two four year old so and they're starting to like you know they're watching movies and stuff like the minions and all this stuff right they have all these like obviously they have these old school songs and stuff like that so they're really that that's kind of like the gateway uh for stuff like
00:59:23
Speaker
It's really hard to like, you know, listen to music around them because I want to listen to stuff I want to listen to, you know, they'll run into my office or something like that. Right. Like quickly shut it off. I know that or I become more, you know, you know, looking out for those, like I said, like clean playlists or clean versions of an album. So true. But I want them to get, you know, into music because that's like a it's important. It's a huge inspiration to like
00:59:49
Speaker
Without a doubt like I said you use it while you're you know dirt while you're doing your works. Yeah Always have and that's giving you inspiration. It's giving you motivation to get that that piece done. I want that the same Yeah Without a doubt Just totally off not really off-topic but they've really like the weirdest thing is
01:00:18
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, he did. He did that. And then obviously he has like the day and night song. Right, right. He has all these like, like kind of like singy songy type of songs that they love.
01:00:31
Speaker
like it's that's awesome like it it's like he he doesn't like really swear that much on right no no that's like it's easy for you know right listen to as well as like soundtracks i've i've found like a lot of yes facts are easy for them to listen to as well because it's not like it's not there's no profanity and some no like no a perfect one too is if you like for if parents out there if you want your kids to get into like you know
01:00:56
Speaker
all types of, you know, music or if the kind of want to listen to hip hop and it's, you know, it's not like, you know, swear based. Right. The the Spider-Man Enter the Spider-Verse. Oh, great movie. Like that. That soundtrack. They love that. They love like that's awesome. They're like, that's what pretty much got them into it.
01:01:15
Speaker
That's incredible. Yeah. So, I mean, that, that movie's great anyway. Like you said, it's, it's an awesome movie. So what are your like, obviously, you know, sports and stuff like that. What's your favorite? What's your favorite sport? Like do you have to pick a favorite? I mean, football, football is always my go-to.
01:01:30
Speaker
Is it college or NFL? NFL. NFL. Yeah. Okay. Uh, do you follow college football at all or? Uh, a little bit more now that gambling has opened up in New York, but, but, but not, not so closely just because in New York, we don't really have like the closest teams to where I grew up or either, you know, Rutgers or Syracuse and neither of those were very close.
01:01:55
Speaker
Yeah, I've noticed too, like, obviously, like, with your artwork and stuff like that, like, you have like, you know, you have some, you know, the feed, you've, yes, kinds of like horror inspired stuff. Are you into like, into horror movies or the horror genre or, you know, she, she will probably she wouldn't get mad at me.
01:02:16
Speaker
and mark i'm sorry but she probably won't even listen to this podcast my wife my wife i'll throw her under the bus she does not like scary movies so my scary movies have declined in my horror movies you know i've talked about jim being my best friend it was always me jim and his brother brian and that's that's what we would do every weekend you know as kids like
01:02:40
Speaker
We would have a sleepover. We'd go to the video store, rent a VHS and, and get something real creepy or really cheesy and, and lock it down. And, oh man, it's, you're making me sad now, just thinking in October, how I'm always trying to coerce her like, you know, Saturday night, all right, what can we watch that I can get away with right now?
01:03:03
Speaker
Yeah, you gotta find something that's uh, but I what I found was you gotta find something that's gonna You know draw her in it could be an act exactly. Yeah. Yeah But you just actually made me sad because usually I'm watching like horror movies constantly, but obviously kids are
01:03:19
Speaker
Yes, that too. Being old, you're tired. Yes. Like I like, you know, watching those like, like you said, like campy cheesy movies, like, yes, I love you ever see this is probably like, it's not really obscure. It might be obscure. Night of the Comet. Have you ever seen or heard of that? No, I haven't. I know.
01:03:42
Speaker
I think that movie might be 84 or 85 or something like that. OK. Definitely seek that out. Obviously, return is a return of the living dead. Oh, yes. Yes. That movie. That is great.
01:03:55
Speaker
But, uh, yeah, for my wife, she doesn't like, uh, like paranormal type movies or. Yeah. Anything with the shock. Yeah. Shock value is what spooked my wife out. She'll watch like, she'll, she'll watch like horror movies. Like she loves Halloween and all that stuff. You know, devil's rejects and you know, all those types of movies, but she does not watch any. Paranormal type of like ghost movies or anything that has to do with the devil.
01:04:19
Speaker
Yeah. She doesn't want anything to do it. Those are the, those are the fun ones. So those are really scary. We used to like, it was, it was a regular occurrence where before kids, it was, uh, my wife and I would basically live at Jim and his wife's house. And especially around this time of year, it was like, you know, anybody would go to bed or the wives would go to bed and Jim would have something good to put on some sort of horror movie. He would, he would throw it on. He could always deliver.
01:04:49
Speaker
Obviously we talk about a lot of horror stuff, you know, she does like that. Oh, without a doubt. Yeah. She loves, she loves, uh, she loves a horror genre and you know, that's, there's like the, this is my wife's favorite time of the year too is her favorite holiday is Halloween. So.
01:05:04
Speaker
Okay. Oh, you're lucky. We've kind of get away with, you know, uh, watching like, you know, horror movies that we can, like we just, right. Halloween ends. Okay. The best of reviews, but it filled my need. Like I have to fill a quota for, right. Right. I have to watch our movie. Of course.
01:05:26
Speaker
that that was good enough for me but uh but yeah any other uh are there any like any other movie genres or anything like that that you i mean we're
01:05:36
Speaker
We're like, at our house, we're more of like a show, like binging. We love TV. Currently, we're big Handmaid's Tale fans. That's one of our favorite shows. I'm hooked into that type of stuff. Anything with suspense gets me hooked.
01:05:58
Speaker
But then I liked like the cheesy half hour stuff. You know, Ted Lasso always is honey in Philadelphia, which is isn't as good, but it still delivers. Um, you know, just anything that like is short, you know, cause we also like to try and hang out and then like, who knows who's going to fall asleep by 10 o'clock on a Saturday night. You know?
01:06:22
Speaker
Matt would, Matt would make fun of me right now. Like you old man, like I'm surprised you're up right now at 10 20 recording this with Marco.
01:06:32
Speaker
of a
01:06:57
Speaker
Yeah, so like you get if you've if you've watched all the American horror stories, like if you watch a show, you can definitely tell them all the camera work. OK, the soundtrack of it, the way that the way the show is shot. Right. You're pretty much used to it. You like, you know, like you kind of you can you can kind of expect that something. Yeah. Is going to happen. But.
01:07:17
Speaker
It's pretty much based on whatever the interviews and stuff that he's done and the tapes that he's recording and stuff like that. Love it. Because I was freaked out with one of the episodes, I won't say what it is, but the next morning, I'm like, oh my God, I was just watching a clip of him actually talking about
01:07:36
Speaker
a scene in the show that actually happened. Like I thought, you know, you know, when they do shows, they like kind of like, you know, they have to Hollywood up a little bit. Right. Right. Right. Of course. But legit, that he speaks word for word exactly the scene that I watch. I was like, I was like, holy crap. That happened. My wife is like, yeah.
01:07:56
Speaker
the fifth
01:08:19
Speaker
I think, yeah, we get to watch a lot of women watch those, or listen to those podcasts. Yes. Yeah. Who knows? They may be planning something. Yeah, you never know. So for extra cooler, for the brand.
01:08:34
Speaker
Yes. What do you see? What do you see it going? Do you have like a do you have like a five year plan, four year plan, 10 year plan? You know, is it is it, you know, just let it flow like a river? No, I Matt. Matt will once again tease me. He calls me the Planimal because I always have to have a plan in place. So there's no set plan on where I'm going. Currently, I am
01:09:03
Speaker
coming to an end, I'm coloring, adding color to my second children's book. I can't give anything away. The first one was S is for Suplex. Thank you for those who haven't checked that out. That's an alphabet book about wrestling features 92 wrestling talents from
01:09:23
Speaker
People who are spent time in WWE, who are now in AEW, and who are much bigger names than when I illustrated it. Britt Baker's in that, MJF is in that, just to name a few. So this one features no actual wrestlers, it's about food that wrestles.
01:09:40
Speaker
Yes, an author reached out to me and has commissioned me to illustrate his book. So hopefully that'll be out relatively soon. I'm hoping to work more with with chalk line. I have some pieces that are a little bit more pop culture, not necessarily wrestling related, that
01:10:03
Speaker
some gallery shows that I'm taking place in with galleries 1988. And then there's our podcast and the extra cooler show. I feel like I haven't talked enough about what we do and outside of the artwork. It's basically me and my three best friends who have coerced me into starting a podcast and using our platform to grow it.
01:10:30
Speaker
And each week we alternate on and off.
01:10:34
Speaker
One week we do what we call a homework episode. We play on the fact that I'm a teacher and our homework is to find a match or a pay-per-view. And we kind of review it and we really, we just look for all the wacky stuff that happens in that pay-per-view and kind of highlight that. And then on the off weeks, our extra credit weeks, which we go over like the current product of WWE and AEW.
01:11:03
Speaker
And, uh, really with that, our big goal is to start to, uh, get some people on some, some, some interviews while watching wrestling and talking about wrestling with those people, uh, you know, yourself included. Yeah, yeah, definitely. If you haven't listened to it yet, definitely listen to the extra cooler show. It's, it's, it's pretty much like the pod foundations, uh, like shot on nostalgia. Um, not to take away from terminal. That's the name of one of their shows, but like you, you, you're the nostalgia side of, uh,
01:11:32
Speaker
of the pod foundation. So you can always look to Nick and the survivor series team to take you down memory lane. And that's one of the aspects that they wanted to grasp with the pod foundation is those different corners of wrestling with the current product, with the behind the scenes stuff, business side of it. And now it's kind of expanded, they said even more into like football and
01:11:57
Speaker
Right. It's wild. It's crazy. So I'm not looking forward. I'm kind of looking forward to see what other what other shows kind of like pop at all this. Yeah. Because like you said, you know, you have you have be kind of like I don't want to say I'm the you know, the first one to do it, but I'm kind of like the first one to kind of like bridge that gap and, you know, totally show on turnbuckle tavern. So like I'm on both feeds essentially. And then like, you know, now you have Jordan and Seth, like I spoke earlier, they're on the
01:12:27
Speaker
the NFL show that they have the long balls. So I'm kind of wondering what's going to happen with like, other shows like it, would you, would you consider crossing the, do like a cross promotion show or doing like a show? Like, you know, like with like turnbuckle guys or with, with V or with Sheena or, you know, whoever is willing to do a, another show, a different show. Yeah. I'm always, I'm always open to it. I'll throw them under the bus. I know Matt, Matt loves podcasting. I bust his chops.
01:12:55
Speaker
I love it too. But you know, ultimately, ultimately, I'm always open to listening to anything and hearing anything out and you know, love hop into things and get involved, man. It's, it's fun what we do.
01:13:09
Speaker
that's
01:13:39
Speaker
You know works day to day essentially. So I've been interested to see like where the pod foundation kind of expands I can only It's only gonna grow. It's only gonna grow and only gonna continue to get bigger and better Yeah, so I mean the other part of that too is, you know getting the time to actually you know, right? That's what it comes out to Like backed up this weekend in particular like it did uh, I did a
01:14:05
Speaker
and the turnbuckle debate, which will be out next Monday. Awesome. So I did that last night. I'm doing this today, and then tomorrow night, I'm on the raw down, so. Yeah, you're a busy man. You might not like this crazy, but, you know. Right. This just happened to be like a, you know.
01:14:20
Speaker
I had you already planned for this week. Yeah. It's going to happen regardless. But the turnbuckle debate kind of like was on a whim. But that actually really went well. I hope everyone definitely listens. No, I can't wait. I'm not going to give away the debate topics. Yeah. It's a it's a it's a triple threat match. We don't have Tom. Tom couldn't make it. So it's too bad. Chad's nice going back and forth. And it's it's a yeah. I mean, that's one of my favorite shows.
01:14:47
Speaker
Yeah, I love the turnbuckle debate. I love everything they do. I love everything that Pod Foundation does. You literally don't have to go outside of this group to listen to anything. No, it's the highest of quality wrestling podcasts and beyond. We cover everything that you need. I think that's all I had. Actually, I got to ask you this question because a lot of people get stuffed on this. Hopefully, you'll come through.
01:15:16
Speaker
So the setup is casual wrestling fan, right? They, you know, they've, they've kind of watched it back in the day, not, you know, lost interest in it. Not, you know, not really into it as they were when they were like, uh, kids or whatever. So they're trying to get back into it. Um, what's the one match?
01:15:36
Speaker
that you are going to pull out to bring them, like you rejuvenate their love of wrestling. Like that one match, it's going to go, you know what? I get it. You know, I got to start watching this again. Could be current, could be in the pack. It could be, I think I had one person pick two matches, but I let them slide with that. But, uh, what's the one that one match that you'll, uh,
01:15:58
Speaker
This is hard. I mean, this is really hard. It's got to be so like this is going to be out of left field, but we always talk about this match and maybe because we were there and I don't know why it comes to the top of my mind. It's a little bit more recent. It's from SummerSlam in Barclays recently. It's a four way main event and it was with Lesnar
01:16:22
Speaker
Roman, Samoa Joe, and I believe Braun Strowman. And it's the match where Lesnar gets carried out on the stretcher early on in the match. It's totally just chaos, pure chaos. And if you were once a wrestling fan, I think you could go to that match and watch that match and be like, holy shh.
01:16:48
Speaker
You know, this is just crazy. You know, I don't know. That's just off the top of my head, like a match that we always talk about, like how much fun it was to be there during that. And, you know, that was the era of like Brock, like, you know, running rampant. So you were like wondering, you know, is he going to just squash someone in the middle of the ring? And then when he gets taken out, you're like, OK, is one of these other guys going to win this match? But I won't give it away the ending. So that's that's what comes to the top of my head.
01:17:17
Speaker
Was that the match where Braun Strowman need Brock Lesnar? Like really? I believe so. Yes. Like drop them with actual punches. It may have been. I know exactly the match you're talking about. I know the spot and everything. Because I want to say there was two other guys in that match. There were. So I think that was that match. Yeah, definitely. If you haven't seen that clip, you can definitely search it. Just search Brock Lesnar.
01:17:44
Speaker
Yeah. And that's that's probably not even like that. That isn't even a match that I would say is like a go to for work rate necessarily. I would just say it's just it's just a lot of fun. It's sports entertainment. Exactly. Exactly. So since you picked that one, let's let's I'm going to give you a you'll be probably the first one to do this with and not the last one. So just not a wrestling fan doesn't really care for it. You know, you know, doesn't see like, oh, why do you watch this? You know, those people.
01:18:13
Speaker
What match do you show them to, you know, to peak their interest and be like, Oh, okay. All right. Maybe, maybe I wasn't missing out on something. Maybe, maybe this wrestling thing is, uh, yeah, really exciting. It can be from any, any time period. Any, any time. Like this is the match. That's going to like, you know, turn this, this person just argue with you. Like, why do you watch wrestling? Don't you know it's fake? That type of person. Yeah. Uh, now you're going to be like, all right, I'm going to pull this match out. And now you're going to be like, holy shit. All right.
01:18:41
Speaker
all right now i get it all right so all right i'm gonna narrow it down i'm gonna give you my three and and then i'm gonna narrow it down it would either be um it would not be the iron man match between brett and shawn because jesus christ that match is ridiculously long um but it would be either uh summerslam 1992 brett verse perfect
01:19:02
Speaker
Okay. It would be either, uh, WrestleMania 13, Brett versus, uh, stone cold, or I would have to go with, uh, with the first of, uh, Sean verse undertaker that, that those are like my, my three go-to matches. Like if I just want like good stuff to watch, like I go and put one of those on usually every WrestleMania season, I make it a point to watch, uh, Sean and taker and, uh, Austin and hit man.
01:19:31
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. You know, I probably I probably have three, two that I would for that fan. That's not the fan, but the person was like, Oh, right. Because of nostalgia. I mean, I'm not going to pick it. But obviously, Warrior Hogan, WrestleMania. Right. Of course. That's my childhood. Right. Right. No, totally agree. Yeah. For three matches, I usually go to I do. I do love Brett and Austin, but I also love Brett and Roddy Piper.
01:20:00
Speaker
Oh, and eight. Yeah. Yes. I love the ending. It was just, you know, that match went from technical. Yes. Grawling. Like it was it just had like everything in it. I think enough to like, you know, give you an idea of what you're missing. Obviously, you know, Halloween Havoc, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, like if you're going to for me, if you're going to not into wrestling, you're right.
01:20:25
Speaker
You got to watch like that. That match gives you every emotion. Like imaginable. My last one is mind games. Sean Michaels. Yes. Oh, Mick Foley or mankind at the time. Yeah, that's right there. That that's another I think I just picked matches that had to have everything in it. So yeah, like we covered that. We covered that match on. We covered that match on on our show. And yeah, the mind games match. And it's it's so good. Yeah, that era is so good.
01:20:55
Speaker
Yeah, you just, you know, if it has a chance, definitely, you know, listen to fully his pod. And he actually, yes, talk about that match. The the mind games match. And obviously, you know, oh, OK, how the work rate, like what Sean was like. And, you know, because they talk about, you know, how Sean Mike was. Yeah, it was kind of a problem. Oh, without a doubt for most people. But Nick Foley said he wasn't. He like, he said, yeah, he was he was fine. He like, you know, they went over everything. And yeah.
01:21:20
Speaker
They did. They even did that spot where I'm I know I'm kind of going over a little bit. It will end this soon. But I got to talk. I got to bring this out. So the spot that he had would be it wasn't really a spot. But maybe what Vader that. Yes. Yeah. The infamous. Yeah. They re they did that in the. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But that was planned. Yes. It wasn't.
Mick Foley on Wrestling Matches and Podcasts
01:21:41
Speaker
Yeah. They made it look real. They made it look real. And he Nick Foley actually talks about that because he. Yeah. I think I think he said Tommy Dreamer called him up and was like,
01:21:49
Speaker
like
01:22:07
Speaker
His idea was like to put Sean, like make Sean the bad boy, right? He wanted to get that across. Like that's what Mick Foley's playing was like, you know, we're going to go in, you're going to kind of come out with this as the, you know, that bad, like everyone's going to hate you, essentially. Right. You're going to be that guy, the bad boy. Like you're not squeaky clean. You're just like, you're basically an asshole. Essentially. That's how we're going to get across. And he's like, he's like, if we did it because we fooled everybody because they thought that was like a mess up in the match and it wasn't.
01:22:35
Speaker
When we went and covered that match, I went to go back and listen because they, the two of them, Sean and Mick Foley were both on that Edge and Christian podcast. And they did a watch along of that match and it was incredible. But the whole archive of that show is no longer available.
01:22:56
Speaker
Yeah, there's the early episodes that are not available. And I was so bummed out. I ended up like scanning through the transcript of it that some lunatic put online. But yeah, yeah, you could do no wrong with those two in my opinion. Yeah, definitely. Like I said, it was I was glad to, you know, obviously, you can't find it. But like I said, listen to Foley is pod. Yes, game's episode.
01:23:20
Speaker
He definitely he goes through it. Obviously you don't get Sean's commentary on it, but yeah Yeah, he said, you know Sean was great. He was a hole to everyone else. Yeah He's nice to me I guess I can't I can't speak right we acted right. He's great with me. He loved me. So I don't oh Man, I don't know what it is to tell you he may have been a little bit afraid of our yeah, I mean because seriously his previous work at WCW was a
01:24:01
Speaker
But anyway, uh, this is, this is great.
Podcasting Challenges and Future Plans
01:24:04
Speaker
Uh, I think this, this might be the second longest or the first longest episode, man. I'll have to check the, uh, the time archives last episode, but I think this might be the, I think we ran over over. I try to keep this at an hour, but like you said, I mean, we just start talking. I just start talking mainly. It's a lot of fun, man. Yeah, I can know as much as I wanted. Uh, it's a great format, man. It really is. And I really appreciate you having me on.
01:24:06
Speaker
it is is a death match stuff probably a
01:24:30
Speaker
Thank you for coming on. I know you're busy. You got a lot of stuff going on. Obviously, your personal life and your professional life. I'm definitely appreciative that you jumped on with me and had this conversation. I definitely hope to have you on again.
01:24:49
Speaker
Without a doubt say this to everybody, but I definitely want to do like a recurring theme with so, you know a repeat Yeah, like a follow-up. Yeah, it could be like a you know I invite you on and we have someone else on and we could you know, talk nice. I love it
01:25:05
Speaker
I definitely, you know, obviously this is still in the early stages, you know, it may change and evolve and stuff like that, but I may get a co-host. I don't know. I mean, all right. If anyone's willing to do it. But yeah, I mean, that's I mean, not that I'm looking now, but that's something I've been considering. Very cool. That was one of my fairs doing the show is, you know, it's a one on one thing. It's not right. No one to feed off of. I have no one to bounce, you know, ideas, jokes or anything like that. So it's all me. If it sucks, it sucks.
01:25:34
Speaker
No, man. It was awesome. And episodes that I've been able to tune into have been fantastic, man. You keep it up.
01:25:43
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Thank you. Thank you very much. And again, thank you for coming on the show. And, uh, yeah, we'll, we'll end it there. Um, thank you everyone for listening. And, uh, if you didn't listen, I mean, I will be upset with you, but if you did listen, I hope you, I hope you enjoyed it. Um, and, uh, until next time, uh, you know, you know, just rock on. I never have any, uh, cool words to say at the end. We'll just end it there. See you later.