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Open Mic 15: The Wrestling Classic
5 Plays1 year ago
Describing this episode won't do it justice! You'll have to listen and find out. The MVP Marco finally gets to talk to one of the most influential people in the wrestling media, none other than "The Wrestling Classic" himself, Justin Dhillon. It's a long one (that's what she said) so strap in (also what she said). Enjoy!
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Excitement
00:00:38
Speaker
Welcome everyone to another
00:00:41
Speaker
Episode of open mic with the MVP Marco I am of course your host the MVP Marco and before I get to my guest Which like I said, this is probably that's probably biggest guest not to you know Not to put down any of my guests I had before I think this about like the 17th or 18th episode No one before you guys. Sorry, but this one for me is a big one.
00:01:04
Speaker
Not to put a lot of pressure on the person coming up, but this is
Pod Foundation and Collaborations
00:01:10
Speaker
I
00:01:10
Speaker
a big one for me. But anyway, before we start the show, I always like to say this show is brought to you by the Pod Foundation. What is the Pod Foundation, you ask? It's a collection of podcasters and content creators that consist of The Chick Foley Show, which I'm a part of. Shout out Sheena, Seth, and Jordan.
00:01:32
Speaker
Also the extra cooler show Nick and friends, you know, Nick's killing it. I said it last week, he's, you know, designing gear for FTR now. Um, like I said, a little show called AW all in, uh, you may have seen his design, uh, ha seen on there. So yeah, definitely check it out. And, um, yeah, he's doing big things. We're very proud of, uh,
00:01:52
Speaker
Nick in the in the extra cooler crew. We also have the turnbuckle tavern. That's a part of our crew I mean, they're they're the war definitely the workhorses of of the pod foundation. They literally have a Show every single day of the week.
Marco's Busy Schedule with Turnbuckle Tavern
00:02:06
Speaker
I'm on one of them actually So I'm pulling double duty technically triple duty if you count this show Eight o'clock Thursday nights the raw down on the turnbuckle tavern on YouTube you get to see my
00:02:20
Speaker
my, uh, my, my musings on the WWE product, um, as well as my co-host young Anthony. And, uh, the next show that's actually on the pod foundation, which is coming down the aisle with J bone. Um, so he, he rounds out the third on the raw down crew. So definitely check us out. Like I said, live every Thursday night at eight. Um, and you can hear our musings on the, uh, on the WWE product.
WWE Changes and Justin's Introduction
00:02:44
Speaker
Um, which is going to be a lot different now. Um, we won't get into those topics, but yeah, it's, it's looking a little different. A new, a dawn of a new era, uh, is upon us, uh, come tomorrow. But, uh, anyway, let me bring in my, uh, my next guest. So this, this gentleman, um,
00:03:01
Speaker
To me, next to Sheena, Chick Foley, it's kind of like for me the pillars of the IG wrestling community. I say they're the two pillars that kind of like boosted up that community and then it just obviously now it's, you know,
00:03:21
Speaker
It's
Growth of Wrestling Community on Instagram
00:03:22
Speaker
everywhere. So he'll probably disagree. But or he might not be. He might say, yes, I took I'm taking off the credit. But let me bring in. Let me bring in Justin from the wrestling classic.
00:03:36
Speaker
Justin, how are you? I am good, man. I am. I am good. I just realized first things first. I am going to disagree a little bit. I do agree to any extent. I do think I am. Okay. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram.
00:03:59
Speaker
You said two of us. I think there was a handful of us. I think there was a bunch of pillars and people that were on her early on. Some that aren't on here no longer grew up and actually became professional wrestlers. Yeah. Um, but you know, I think Instagram launched in like what, 2011,
Podcast Appearances and Community Support
00:04:18
Speaker
12. Yeah. I started my page in 2014 and most of the community was role play accounts and some classic wrestling pages. But, um,
00:04:29
Speaker
the pages becoming real people. I think I was one of the first people and she knows one of those people. And interesting enough, I did not realize tell you we're doing this intro.
00:04:38
Speaker
And just this year alone, I've been on Extra Cooler Show, I've been on Turnbuckle Dapper. The odd foundation that I now heard about is getting me on their shows. And I don't usually do podcasts, I'll be honest with you. I did a lot of these in the past, and then I never knew why I did them. I'm probably going to feel the same way I do this.
00:05:02
Speaker
But I'm here. I'm used to hosting them. I'm used to going on the ones where, you know, we talk about certain things that are happening in wrestling or whatever. Yep. But I mean, the ones where I come on and I'm like supposed to talk about myself, I always find so interesting. I mean, you know, I mean, I try to, you know, keep it like hearted. Yeah. You know, I'm not going to like delve into you like, you know, your trauma is and all.
00:05:27
Speaker
I mean, I mean, if you want, I could, I could try, but, uh, probably, uh, probably won't be, uh, successful in, in curing anything for you. But, um, but anyway, but yeah, that's kind of funny, uh, that I know I, I did see your episode on, uh, the term buckle debate.
00:05:46
Speaker
Uh, which is pretty awesome. Um, I've been on there a few times already. Um, yeah, the extra, like I said, it's, you know, you're kind of like an unofficial member of the, uh, of the pod foundation, just, you know, jumping on all these shows now. So, you know, I've had a great relationship for years with Sheena and her husband that they've been around. Like I said, I feel like they've been around since I've been around.
00:06:06
Speaker
She's one of the first people to buy and wrap one of my shirts when I put on merchandise back in the day, which I need to put new merchandise out of guys. And also just like Nick of Extra Cool, like the amount of things that either we've done together or he stared me in the right direction or I stared him into a direction of an opportunity. It's continuous, it's happening right now too. I don't want to spill the beans on anything, but there's some stuff Nick might be working on that I got
Impact of Wrestling Dirt Sheets and Tribalism
00:06:31
Speaker
involved with recently. It just, it's, it's,
00:06:35
Speaker
It's, it's a cool little community here in the pod foundation. Those turnbuckle guys are great. I never talked to them before. It's similar to you. This is like our first time like conversation. Um, there was the same thing with them and they're just positive.
00:06:48
Speaker
Like obviously we all have opinions, but positive, not dirty, not trying to break the news, wrestling fans that just want to talk about wrestling and love the business. And you know, once again, everyone has their opinions, what they like and don't like, but at the end of the day, just want to see the business succeed. And they're not trying to, you know, get headlines and clicks and that type of stuff, which I always appreciate. Yeah. That's, and that's what the idea behind the pot foundation was when, uh,
00:07:15
Speaker
Pina and Seth actually, you know, came up with the idea and they were like, you know, kind of scouring, looking around it. Like they, they pretty much went after podcasts that they listened to. Um, and then, you know, they reached out to these individuals and said, Hey, I mean, she's known, you know, extra Kula for forever since the beginning, pretty much. I'm pretty sure you guys since like 2015, 16. I think you guys kind of all.
00:07:38
Speaker
kind of interacted and kind of like helped each other out in some way and kind of like propped each other up. But, um, yeah, the idea just, you know, having those guys on board and stuff like that. And like I said, I've, you know, they, they brought me on board on their, on their feed, um, on their show. They, I mean, I, I love those guys there. Uh, they're a great bunch of dudes to, uh, to, you know, talk wrestling with. And actually, you know, you brought up a point I kind of want to ask you about since you're kind of, uh, to me, what are like the people in the forefront when it comes to, you know, wrestling, um,
00:08:07
Speaker
in the wrestling space, dirt sheet stuff. What are your thoughts on like?
00:08:13
Speaker
you know, fans being so involved with like the, you know, the backstage drama. I mean, I'm not a drama person. I'd rather like not hear about that stuff. I like to live in kayfabe land pretty much. That's me anyway. But like, it's kind of disheartening sometimes for me anyway, when you hear like, you know, the tribalism that happens when it comes to, you know, the backstage politics. In reality, you should be just focusing on what's on your screen. What are your thoughts on that?
00:08:42
Speaker
I agree with you. And I think just recently when MJF sat down with Dave La Greco for the Town Hall that they did for Boston Open, Dave La Greco is a great guy. And obviously MJF is, but I will have to say that now because he's like a good guy. Yeah, pretty much. And I remember Max at some point during that Town Hall was like, yo guys, just stop the tribalism.
00:09:05
Speaker
We're all having fun. You guys are picking WWE, AW for the most part, the talents of both companies, they get along. They're friends. The more that both companies succeed, the better it is for both of us to elevate them. It's true, right? So I think that's one thing that I think we're asking Fetch to take into consideration is that everything you hear on the dirt sheets, and this is, okay, I'm gonna be that old man right now that's gonna be like, back in my day.
00:09:32
Speaker
were used to it better, but I read The Dirt Treats when I was a kid. I've never been a Wrestling Observer Newsletter subscriber. I didn't even know what that was until I got older. But I was on the Internet and I'd go back to dressing.com or call the hotline. I found out like all Nash and Hogan got signed back to the WWE, the rumors. I would find those little tidbits here and there as a kid, but technically I didn't really.
00:09:57
Speaker
go on the dirt sheets a lot. And there was a point where I did a lot, but it was during those years, I would say I had like this dark period of professional wrestling in 2007, 2011. I wasn't watching heavy pay-per-view Smackdowns on Friday, but I watched every Monday and I watched impact, but then I'd go read the Smackdown spoilers and see what else was going on. Just kind of keep up with it, but cause I wasn't watching so like avidly.
00:10:19
Speaker
But that all being said, I think now because of social media, and I'm a part of that community, right? Like social media, like, even if you
00:10:28
Speaker
wanna avoid reading the news and the rumors. Cuz that was the thing with me, right? I stopped once I got back into wrestling around 2011 and 12, look fully, see a punk drop the pipe bomb, I'm back in WWE. Punk will laugh, I started my page, in comes the shield, this is all so much fun, everything's great, Brian's popping off. Cuz I just didn't like the Cena era, but now we're past it, Kevin Owens guys all showing up, it was a great time.
00:10:51
Speaker
I actually stopped reading the Dirt Treats. I just never went out of my way to go to any of those websites and read what was happening. I had buddies that didn't like to read that like Ryan said and said that on Pro Wrestling. I'm like, no, I don't. Because what I learned is the less I know, the more I actually enjoy the product, the more I genuinely be surprised. The more time something happens,
00:11:13
Speaker
And all my pages happen so many times where I will start acting really surprised on my page because I'm genuinely surprised so I didn't know. I'll be like, oh my god, I didn't see that coming. That's so cool. If someone's in my comments section, like, yo, Dave Meltzer said that was going to happen like two weeks ago, man.
00:11:26
Speaker
I didn't know that you knew because you were trying to find. I didn't. You know, I wish wrestling had the same culture as people have when it comes to like some TV shows and movies where it's like, you know, when Avengers comes out, nobody wants anyone to leak the story.
Critique of Leaking Wrestling Stories
00:11:40
Speaker
No one's like before the movie comes out being like, who's got the script? Who leaked it? Okay. Does anybody know what the cameos are? Find out like it's not like the cool thing to put that stuff out. It's like the bad thing to do.
00:11:53
Speaker
But in wrestling, for some reason, it's the cool thing to do to break the news, to figure it out first. Oh, CM Punk might be coming back. Oh, this person's backstage. Why do you want to know? And then then and then you say you want to know. I want a little bit of a rant, a little bit of a tangent. That's fine. Go ahead. You say, all right. You say like, oh, my God, wrestling is so predictable. Well, it is predictable if you want to know every little thing. Take away all the mystique. You say, then it's the same people that complain that
00:12:23
Speaker
Like, oh, like, you know, like we already know this is happening. We know that's happening. Oh, CM Punk, this brawl. Oh, the elite yada, yada, yada, Vince McMahon, sexual assault. Vince is backstage. Vince isn't backstage. He wrote the show today. He didn't write the show today. And then at the same time, those are the same people be like, well, why is we are Ripley posting with Buddy Matthews that they're married, whatever happened.
00:12:46
Speaker
should have ever heard in my life. Do you want to know? Do you not want to know if the wrestlers do it? You get mad at them if the dirt sheets do it. It's okay. That's what their jobs is. And I think, I know I don't want to like jump in, but one of your questions coming up might be like, Oh, like, how'd you start your page? Right.
00:13:03
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not into details about that, but I'll say this, when I started in my page, when I thought I was sitting there and I was working at a phone booth, bored as hell, in a mall that's dead as hell, at all data kill with a few customers at a time, I was like 22 years old. I remember being like, oh, I want to do something. Like I kept saving, and I have done this, even like I said, no matter, even if I say I fell, I've been wrestling for, but I still love professional wrestling.
00:13:27
Speaker
So it was like saving all these cool pictures. And I had a marketing degree. And as I was working in that phone place, I had a few contracts doing social media for some places. And I was like, man, I'm just going to build my own thing. I'm like, I want to post these wrestling pictures somewhere. I want to post so I can share with other people. And we're going to look at this stuff, right? And not to jump right into the story, but I'll say when I was deciding where to do it, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, where do I want to fit in? I'm like, well, I looked at Twitter. I'm like, Twitter, even back in 2014,
00:13:56
Speaker
is a place where people like to complain. It's less positive. It's where people like to complain or parody, comment, make fun of things. It was more negative. It was the dirty culture on Twitter. That was the know-it-alls were on Twitter. The haters were on Twitter. The people that say everything, they were on Twitter.
00:14:16
Speaker
a market right it was already like a saturated market. Reddit I didn't really mess with back then I didn't really know what it was. Facebook has already went into that space it was like for your aunts and uncles and it was no longer for us kids so like um so then I was like okay well Instagram's new it hasn't really has it doesn't have like you know that space like that wrestling
00:14:36
Speaker
page that is the home of wrestling pages. When I was a kid, I used to go on those forums and I'd fight with people and I'd comment on stuff and jump on a thread and we'd be on the message boards. I missed that. I didn't do it for a lot of years. I even did that
Content Strategy and Avoiding Rumors
00:14:53
Speaker
silly role play stuff on MSN groups where you'd go on there and you pick a wrestler and you cut promos, you get booked in matches. I did all this stuff. So I was like, oh, I want to create a space for wrestling. Let's have fun.
00:15:03
Speaker
And it wasn't just about like, yeah, you know, initially I didn't push any news. I never gave anyone updates on the modern day wrestling. It really was just classic wrestling. Then I started mixing some of the new stuff because I liked it. Then I came to the idea of like, well, I can make the old fans understand what's happening today. And you know, the younger fans know what we grew up on.
00:15:20
Speaker
And then eventually now it's like a mix of everything that I did start doing updates. But I still don't like, if something's a rumor or if it's a negative news, like I won't share it. I remember when this stuff happened with Saraya, AKA Paige, I never posted anything about it. Then he just punk stuff and outside of him actually getting fired and post about the drama.
00:15:37
Speaker
I don't think that's my place in this community. I think the place in the community for me is keep people updated, throw some classic stuff at them, obviously the women stuff, which is controversial and polarizing. But when I stop and the people get mad, when I keep going, then the religious people get mad. But all the women are in on it. That's a whole different topic.
00:15:56
Speaker
The women's wrestlers all follow the page, they send me the pictures, I talk to them, they know who I am, they've met me. All the models they post, I'd befriended them over the years. It's not like, it's like, oh my God. But anyways, I'm not a big fan of the old dirty girl. I understand the purpose, I understand they make money. I will never disregard anybody's hustle. I've met Sean Ross, Dave Meltzer, I've met them all. They're all super cool people. That's the job. They're making some bank off it. People want to know it. I mean, it is like everything, right?
00:16:25
Speaker
Shows like ET Hollywood and these Access Hollywood shows exist because people want to know what's going on in people's personal lives But it's like I think it kind of runs wrestling. I think I think People can blame so many things on what ruined wrestling It was UFC or people found out it was fake. I think it was the dirt sheets becoming a very public thing. I think it was the Internet
00:16:47
Speaker
They're really good wrestling social media to be able to like Google something. Like, you know, when we, if we thought I was faking on those word them up now, they just go is wrestling fake and you'll find out.
00:16:58
Speaker
It's a different era. So I think to really enjoy professional wrestling, to genuinely enjoy it and not be so analytical about it. Not everybody needs to be an analyst. Not everybody needs to be a podcast and not everybody needs to break down what's going on. Not everybody needs to be an armchair, you know, booker. And I'm saying that as like, I do all that stuff. So like, yeah, we all do. I'm one of those people that think I am. So like, I'm not saying that like, I'm not like throw shots at anybody. I'm like, but not everybody has to like, people can still just watch it and enjoy it for what it is.
00:17:28
Speaker
i say i do it because i had to continue to grow what i was already doing and adapt the parish but for the most part if you're just still a fan chillin and you know if you're on monday night free you're gonna turn around like just enjoy it stop looking into it like just enjoy for what it is you'll enjoy it so much more trust me the reason why children love professional wrestling is because they're still innocent to them it's still real to them they believe it they actually still suspend their disbelief and just enjoy the show and the characters without caring about what they're like like when people start
00:17:58
Speaker
There's a whole group of people now, I think that dislike CM Punk, not because they dislike CM Punk, the character, the rest of the guy that cuts the promos, they dislike the fact that he has beef with the elite, now CM Punk's a cancer. If he's a cancer to that locker room, is he a cancer to your life? Not exactly, yeah. Are you in that locker room? Are you going there week to week, sitting there having to deal with the Phil Brooks' antics? No, you aren't. So why does it matter to you?
00:18:27
Speaker
Yeah. It's the thing about that too is like, you know, with, with, with those types of stories, it's, it's one sided, right? Like the news you're hearing, it's the, it's, you know, the, the saying goes, it's your side, my side. And then the truth, right? You're only hearing one side. You're not hearing all the other two sides. First hand, like it was the inside scoop.
00:18:51
Speaker
Nobody from the CM Punk side has said anything about what exactly you're just hearing What's wrong with you and whoever wants to talk about that work there? No one that's actually gonna be like you're like Dax cash punk. Yeah, what do they have to say? Nobody's really said anything about which I respect too that they're not coming out and like, you know saying anything and it's uh, you know, like I I've never got to talk about it on area at this whole CM Punk situation and i'm a I i'm a
00:19:18
Speaker
I'm a punk fan for life and I enjoy the young bucks. I think Kenny's tremendous. So I'm not like, fuck the elite or anything. I like both sides. But one side does have more of a relationship with this internet community than the other side. Oh yeah, of course. And if you're just reading what's on the internet, that's like saying like, say if I was in a fight with someone, but you were getting all the news from the rest and classic page.
00:19:45
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, yeah. And if you think about it, he's, you know, punk, you know, the boom, the wrestling boom from what he left is like that whole six, six, seven years he was gone was a big wrestling booming on the internet and social media. So he, he's not going to be, you know,
00:20:08
Speaker
Uh, like taken in by that community as, as, as, as fondly as the elite and you know, all those guys kind of miss out on the whole thing while he was gone, but they were the guys that were very.
00:20:22
Speaker
they took advantage of the world of like, Oh, well we're not a WWE, we're not as a big company, but we're cool with Meltzer here, right? But as our matches, we'll get over how we're going to make one of our Paul divers called the Meltzer driver. We're going to get five stars. We're going to make five stars the culture like, and I listen.
00:20:41
Speaker
I think that's dope. I appreciate that hustle. That's a very smart business tactic to get you guys to stop over, get people talking, keeping that buzz going. I'll never both, no matter what, like I will say like whatever they did is fine. I just saying like to your point, only one side of the story has been out and only one narrative has been out this entire time.
CM Punk, Elite Drama and Internet Narratives
00:20:58
Speaker
Yeah. And that's okay. And listen, I've had people close to me that came to me.
00:21:02
Speaker
And it was like, you know, he's a cancer, like, you know, damaged goods. That's cool. I don't know. As a fan, I wish he was still there. As a person that wants AWS to succeed, okay, maybe it was the right decision. Maybe if it was causing a toxic atmosphere, cool, but I also am not there. If that's the case, so we, but you know, as a fan, I wish he was still there. I wish he was still running collision. I wish we were still getting that collision we were getting at the beginning, but you know, some people don't have the, uh, and someone said this to me straight up. Like they don't have the,
00:21:31
Speaker
choice to look at it as a fan they have to look at it from a professional point of view to them that's all they felt and that's fair because you have a connection to that company more than I do so you have you can't be a fan right so it's like this is I think let's move punk and the elite stuff off to the side I always said this right like and this is where um I think it all boils down to right I people will be like oh like
00:21:58
Speaker
You know, do you dislike Dave Meltzer? Do you think Dave Meltzer is a fraud? Because now with all the podcasts that come out, Bruce Prichard's, Bischoff's, I'd be like, we found out how many people in his newsletter was just fake or made up. There's a lot. Anybody that listens to any of these people's podcasts, that was BS. Nobody said that.
00:22:16
Speaker
This guy was making stuff up to put in the newsletter because nobody was debunking him. And people were reading it and just believing it, you know, like, yeah, yeah, how he's getting debunked a bunch. And like, and then now there's a whole drama about five stars, like he's never given Kurt Angle a five star match just personally, you know, but no, Kenny Omega's got like seven star matches and yada, yada, yada. I always said this one, I will never disregard Dave Meltzer's hustle. Genius guy. You know, what a profit off the wrestling business for over 30 years and get a bunch of people to subscribe to his newsletter, whether he was putting truth or BS in it.
00:22:46
Speaker
Two, I have nothing against Dave Meltzer. I've never had anything against the man, Dave Meltzer. It's the people that took his word for gospel. It's the people that can't form their own opinions. It's the people that when they see something, like the people that thought anything he said was actual fact. It doesn't match as five stars. It doesn't mean has to be five stars to you. He said that stadium stampede match all in was like four and a quarter stars. I thought that was like a negative one star match. I didn't know what that was.
00:23:17
Speaker
you know but that's ripening that's his opinion like it's just it was always the people that kind of like were the you know the people that like were ride or die for for Dave Meltzer that I thought was like yo just form your own opinions and just agree to disagree that's the biggest thing I think the wrestling fandom has is nobody knows how to agree to disagree yeah no definitely right like you could like uh I don't know if you ever followed that pagey wrestling historian
00:23:42
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, I do. HCM Punk wasn't an MJF fan ever. We talk about all the time, but the one thing about our debates is that we always agree to disagree. We never offend each other. You know, I'm an MJF fan. He knows I'm a punk fan. I know he's not. You messaged me talking crap. I'll message him talking crap.
00:24:00
Speaker
but we're friends at the end of the day because we know that like we can agree to disagree and doesn't go on with our lives and still be friends and talk about stuff. Exactly. And that's sort of how it should be anyway. I mean like especially now with like the reason why I brought that question up was because you know in that same interview you know MJF talked about you know there's like there's a boom like a wrestling boom right now and if you like we're in the middle of something that's like
00:24:25
Speaker
kind of unprecedented in the sense where you have, well, back in the attitude, I already had WCW, WWF at the time. And now you have multiple, not that they're on the same echelon as WWE, but you have AEW, you have GCW, you have Impact, which just celebrated their 1,000
00:24:46
Speaker
You know, that's, that's insane. Like you have alternatives, you have alternatives and I posted on your, uh, on your, your, your posts on Instagram that, uh, that, that Eric Bischoff, uh, quote about, you know, wrestling being a buffet and you know, you pick and choose what you like and you're not forcing anyone.
Wrestling as a Buffet: Fan Choices
00:25:04
Speaker
to to eat the food that you're eating when you're in a buffet line that person next to you they're picking what they like and you you're picking what you like and you you move on with your business and that's how that's how i always see wrestling as that's how it should be anyway i mean i grew up on wcw yeah those are the first two things i remember i didn't really get exposed to ecw till later but like those i i saw it by accident a few times at like 2 a.m when i was like
00:25:25
Speaker
eight, nine years old on TNN. But that was in like 1999, 2000, like it was already like ECW. So I didn't get the ECW buzz. I mean, I also like had on tape like the time to show up on Raw and Sabu fell off the Raw side and stuff like my brother taped all that stuff. But I just didn't know ECW like that. But WCW and WWF was my stuff. And it's like,
00:25:46
Speaker
It was missing for a lot of years. We had TNA for like a minute. And I just think, you know, when I started my page, it was like, it was really WWE heavy. TNA wasn't doing that well. A lot of people were tuning into New Japan as the alternative. You know, Ring of Honor was good in like 2014, but around like 2017 just kind of was not. And then,
00:26:10
Speaker
Now I think we do have a lot of alternatives. And I think, I don't see it that much on Instagram. Maybe I'm just like turning a blind eye to it. I don't know. But I don't want Twitter, like there was like pages dedicated to like favor AWF WWE. And then there's some dedicated to love WWE, FAW. And it's on Twitter that I see the most. Also on my Discord, I have a Discord and you guys can click the link in my bio and join those people in there that are like that too. But it's just like, I don't, I don't get it. Like,
00:26:47
Speaker
to like be good and have something more fun to not be outshone by this little company that's a family run to this big corporate company that's like got shareholders and sponsors and now your endeavor is going to own it and you know what I mean? Like using its own stratosphere. And it is getting poked by this little company over it is whether you like it or not. Like it gave a place for talent to go and make money and leave their company has given them a people and alternative to, if you don't like this product, you can watch this product.
00:27:05
Speaker
I want AEW to succeed because they'll always make WWE have to step up the game, whether they want to admit it or not.
00:27:14
Speaker
So whether they're smaller or bigger, they are an alternative. And I think as long as they succeed, you think
00:27:22
Speaker
that WWE isn't gearing up so hard to make WrestleMania and Philly have even 1,000 or 2,000 more fans there than they had at Wembley. Yeah, of course. That's it. I'm not saying this directly. I don't think WWE has anything to fear in terms of going out of business or crumbling. That fear does not exist. Them making money hand over fist is not a problem to me.
00:27:48
Speaker
but for AW to get better stats than them like that's a worship them type of thing that will maybe bother them a little bit you know. Losing talent is something that might bother them a little bit. The littler things like you know like someone being like I don't want to re-sign here because I know I can go there and probably double the money from this guy that's a big fan of me.
00:28:10
Speaker
and work less dates, you know. So that's where I think the competitive part comes out. So there's no like, AEW was going to shut down WWE and it's the 90s again and there was still a family owned business where they were allegedly taking the water coolers out of Stanford. That's never going to happen unless AEW like
00:28:30
Speaker
fully changes its business model, because that's a whole different topic in a personal opinion way. Because I feel like they don't try to grow their fan base, they just cater to the ones they already have. But I think AW is a threat to them in a small way. Oh, yeah, definitely. But I don't think
00:28:50
Speaker
I think fans should want both of them to succeed.
Justin's Childhood Introduction to Wrestling
00:28:52
Speaker
I think fans should want to see WWE get better. I think fans should want to see AW to keep trying to compete with WWE. AW should try to get to the level, 110%. Mocking them for trying isn't cool. So yeah, I don't like it. Yeah, no, definitely. But I was going to say, so as far as, you know, cause you got already,
00:29:17
Speaker
Well, we can get into a little bit of the page and stuff like that. But even before that, as far as, you know, your wrestling fandom is concerned, like, how did it start? Not in the generic way where, you know, like, oh, you know, I seen this, you know, Hulk Hogan body slam or whatever. But like, who was there's always a person or there's always something that brings you into wrestling. Can you recall that? There was a wrestling band.
00:29:47
Speaker
So when I was born, he was already 10 years old. He was a foreign Hulkamaniac 80's child. He had all the LGN Hasbro figures, magazines, and he had a habit that I also picked up when I was in my teenage years where he would record everything that was on TV.
00:30:04
Speaker
So he'd report the raws and the nitros and, and the thunders and obviously some missing here and there, but like, I grew up with all these VHS tapes and like the old scam of the two VCRs go rent a video from blockbuster tape on tape. Like I had, like, I had all these, I still have these boxes of tapes in my closet. I don't even know why I still keep them. I don't even think I have a VCR, but it's just like this tie I have to them. Cause that's how I became a wrestler. Yep.
00:30:30
Speaker
I, you know, and people like, when do you remember how old you are? I'm like, I guess from as far as I can remember. Like I remember when my first actual vivid memories of seeing wrestling on TV was, was like 1996. Like I feel like that was when I like, I remember like seeing Raw live or superstars live, you know, and Saturday night WCW and all that. Like 96 was that year, like I remember seeing it. I'm watching, but I'm like, prior to that, I was seeing it all this, all the time. Cause of my brother.
00:30:57
Speaker
I was around. I had all the toys. I had my X-Men and my Power Ranger dolls that I was doing wrestling moves on and all this other stuff, but I had all these wrestlers. I was in the bathtub playing with two rubber LGN wrestling figures. I've always been a wrestling fan. He can sometimes get mad because he doesn't watch at all no more. He's just grown up and he's a serious adult in real estate. He's always like, I felt that you're into this stuff.
00:31:26
Speaker
It was because of him and that was how I got into it. So I, it sounds cliche, but I feel like I've been watching it since I was born because I guess it's always just kind of been on. Yeah. He was always watching it. He was watching his tapes, had his stuff. And I was just a little kid around. We had a sister in the middle, obviously, but I was just a kid, a kid around. So was your sister into wrestling at all? Did she catch the belt? She was by default, she was around it all the time. Right.
00:31:54
Speaker
And my older brother, she had to watch it when she was little. And then as a younger brother, when I was little, then I wanted to watch it. I'll tell you, she really, you know, when it got really soap opera-y, like during like the McMahon Helmsley era. Yeah.
00:32:08
Speaker
Stephanie and then Stephanie snapped Linda, Stephanie and then Shane. My sister was really into that era. Like 99, 2000, 2001 were really dramatic. Like she was a fan. You know, Austin Rock, DX, McMahon, Holmes, that was, she was actually like a legitimate fan. I remember like watching like SmackDown Raw with me like
00:32:29
Speaker
want to know what would happen next with these people. For the most part, she wasn't. But she's been around it the whole time too. It just is what it is.
00:32:41
Speaker
Did you, did you hold any connection? As you said, like that you have vivid memories 96, do you hold any connection or to like the golden era guys? Like, you know, the Hogan's Amacho warriors. Okay. I almost feel like I grew up with that anyways, cause I had all those tapes, right? Like, I'm a, I was a regular kid. I was a big hockey fan when I was a kid, uh, you know, being Canadian from Vancouver, like.
00:33:05
Speaker
I grew up in a cul-de-sac with a bunch of friends. We played street hockey and cops. I was like, I'm a regular kid and we're wrong. But like, I, you know, and I love the Rugrats and I love my animated X-Men series and all my TV shows, Tailspin. And he has like an older family matters and Boy Meets World is one of my favorite. I'm a regular daddies kid, but I just always loved wrestling. It just was a part of me, right? So like, even when I was, like I said, the LGN figures were like Ivan Sheik and Hogan and Savage. It wasn't like, you know,
00:33:33
Speaker
than the, I had the nineties figures too, but I mean, like, so I grew up on like all those tapes were like prime time wrestling and wrestling challenges and WrestleMania one to six on VHS and the first ever summer slimes. And I watched those over and over again. So like,
00:33:46
Speaker
Like, you know, when I was at home and it was raining outside, I was watching wrestling tapes. You know, once Rugrats finished at 4.30 after school, maybe I'd pop in a wrestling tape. Like, you know, like it was just kind of, I had them, you know, like, so everyone's like, cause when I started my page, I just closed my age, right? When I first started the wrestling class, nobody knew my face, my name, how old I was. Cause I felt like I had to be very disclosed of who I was. So people didn't judge me for what I knew.
00:34:13
Speaker
Because sometimes when someone younger starts posting about stuff that happened before the time, people are like, how do you know you weren't even there? Because I do. You know what I mean? I love this stuff. I've done the research. I watched it. I know. And nobody could judge me because they didn't know how old I was. Now people know. And it's kind of like it's a different time. I think when I started my page, wrestling in 2014 wasn't as popular as it is right now. Or even in the last few years, I think
00:34:41
Speaker
I used to say back then, like you could go anywhere and you could wear a stone cold shirt or a de-axed shirt or a rock shirt or some OG vintage shirt and it was cool. But, you know, if you were like 21, 22 years old and you walked into your university or college and went to John Cena shirt, you probably get laughed at.
00:34:58
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. You know, like it wasn't cool. Like, yeah, like, I thought like it's so weird that, you know, anybody can wear any sort of sports jersey and it's okay when football, no one's in a judge. Yeah. You and then we're in such a weird culture too. At that point too, like nerd culture was so popular. You could be wearing a Pokemon retro shirt or some Marvel superhero thing and nobody would judge you, but you could be wearing a 2014 wrestling shirt.
00:35:27
Speaker
Yeah. We're like, Oh, you still watch that shit. Yeah. It's like weird, right? Like I have a look to hit that way, which is kind of funny. It went from like wrestling being cool in the nineties and early two thousands, even like the eighties to like that John Cena PG. And listen, man, I don't even want to get into that too much. I don't hate John Cena. I just, I, cause the person I hate his character, but I also know it was the company
00:35:55
Speaker
that needed that character happened in that company. But that character was never catered to me. It was too cheesy. And he won way too much that I will never like it. But that's because it wasn't catered to me. I, John Cena, the man is the man. Great worth ethic. You know, I write the stuff in the caption. I'm like, well, great guy. I'd have a drink with him. I'd hang out with him. Great work at the company. I'd hire him. But John Cena sucks. He's not for me. And all people read as John Cena sucks. He's not for me. Come at me in my company.
00:36:24
Speaker
What do you mean he's not two guys? I'm like, no, I'm saying he's probably a great deal. That character sucked and it continues to suck. And it's the same thing today. It's the same promo and people just come at me, but I'm like, you know, I'm complimenting him though. And I know what's not him was that company needed John Cena to be John Cena.
00:36:37
Speaker
you have to like all the Benoit tragedy happened and then this happened and like we need a, we did a faces
Changes in Wrestling Fandom
00:36:42
Speaker
company. That's Mr. PG, like who's going to grab it and carry it. John Cena was a guy that took that like he took it and he did it very well. It just was never for me. It was for children. The problem now is those children are now like 21, 22, 23 years old because that was their whole COVID struggle. And they think he's like,
00:37:02
Speaker
you know, and they don't even see the propaganda when it's written in front of them. Literally like the photo section of WWE, we go in quotations, L.A. Knight versus The Midge with, quote, quotation, the greatest wrestler of all time, quotation, John Cena, especially. How do you guys not see this propaganda? They're telling you who the greatest of all time is.
00:37:21
Speaker
way they want you to believe it. Like let's forget about Hogan now. Let's forget. John Cena guys. So every time they bring him back you think you're seeing something special. It's called marketing but a lot of y'all don't get that. That's true. It's very true. In fact what I was saying um yeah it was the tapes and stuff and I love the 80s stuff and um
00:37:40
Speaker
And it's hard to like, like I said, like 96, 97, I was like the earliest stuff I remember and like the NWO was happening. I still think and watching it live as a little kid and I was only like seven years old and it was crazy to me, but then also going back and watching so much of it, I still think personal opinion, personal opinion. Some people might agree with me, some might not. I think 1997 is the greatest year in wrestling. WSW and WDF were just popping off. And as far as I've seen how even ECW was popping off.
00:38:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's true. Cause like, yeah, those Stink Hogan angle, you're the heart foundation and DX coming together, Austin on the rise. Like it wasn't full blown out of here, but the seeds were being planted and you saw the change happening in WF and Sean kind of turned into like the, you know, the nineties on drug Sean that we all remember.
00:38:28
Speaker
like Brett turned heel and Austin was coming up and Vince was actually becoming a character. And you're like, Oh, nice. I've been in WWF is a little wild, man. They're getting here. That thorn in the eye theme came that new or off stage came and like, it was changing. Then the flip side, you had the NWO yet Hogan and Savage. Look, I couldn't watch that and not know who these guys were back in the golden era. How am I supposed to know Savage and not be like, I watched Hogan and Savage because I was allowed to watch Hogan Savage. And my parents, my brother were like, that's what they knew. Right.
00:38:57
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. But yeah, no, I love 97 and yeah, I have a big appreciation for the golden era and I am sorry. I went off track like four times. No, that's, that's totally fine. That's a, no, I appreciate it. Uh, yeah, you definitely, uh, you know, I don't know why I asked because of the, your name, the wrestling classic is obviously after the, uh, the pay-per-view that they had around, I believe it was like 85 or something like that. The wrestling classic is what's your ethnicity?
00:39:25
Speaker
I'm half black, half white. So I have a mixed, I have a mixed breed as they call it. So I was eating something, like I was going to tell you what I was going to say. I was going to think of a product. I remember I was sitting there, I was eating this. I was watching the wrestling classic on the network that I legally got in Canada. Yep. And I was like, no, I'm going to make this wrestling page. I want to post some pictures. And I just, I named it after what I was watching.
00:39:47
Speaker
I'm like, that would be a sweet resting page name. The rest of it. Oh, you know, why don't you post classic resting? Like, isn't this supposed to be a classic resting page? I'm like, no, there is a classic resting page. It's literally called classic resting. This is the rest in class.
00:40:01
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I like it. It doesn't mean that it has to be old pictures of classic wrestling. True. And also it's gotten to the point, if you've followed me long enough, I've become the person. Yeah. It's not really like the wrestling classic of this page. It's like, oh, people see me and they call me the wrestling master, which is weird to me. Yeah. I remember the first time I interviewed a local wrestler and he
00:40:27
Speaker
I mentioned that, you know, sometimes I bump people and they're like, yo, classic. I'm like, it's so weird. And he's like, you know, like how many russes would like that are coming up would die to have a nickname like the classic, but it was just like given to them. I'm like, that's so true. I guess. It's like I said, it's just, you know, just like just it just flows well. And it has that like, you know, it has that tie to like that that in between period between
00:40:53
Speaker
you know, uh, WrestleMania and WrestleMania two, which is, yeah, I think it wasn't really, you know, seen as a big, huge pay-per-view between the two, but it's kind of like that bridge between, you know, what was, what was a come, um, you know, it had the, you know, the main event, uh, I believe it was like Roddy Piper and Hogan, um, which obviously they have their storied rivalry and, you know, junkyard dog. I think was.
00:41:20
Speaker
Was it, Savage was not WrestleMania 1, so it had to be before WrestleMania 2, right? Yeah, it was like... In 1985. It was like 1985? Yeah, November 7th, 1985, I believe. Yeah, November 19th, that means WrestleMania 1 already happened. I just remember being like one of those things that they were testing something for. Yes, yeah, that's what I was like. It was like them to try to test if they could do like pay-per-views in November or something, because I know the first WrestleMania was closed circuit,
00:41:50
Speaker
I don't know if the sector asked me to start closed circuit. I wasn't alive back then. I was like, pre-paper view this. Yeah, me neither. Either like call and get the closed circuit, like pay for it, or you could go to actual like feeders and watch closed circuit programs like wrestling. Yeah. That was a different beast back then, but that was the case. And I think the rest of the class was something they were testing out to see. Yeah. And you know, back to the other question too, like much of my mind is sandwiched in my favorite rest of all time.
00:42:19
Speaker
I didn't even look very savage in the 80s, 80s, but I felt like I did because of all the stuff I had. And then my first memories of Savage is also very colorful Savage in 96 and then NWO Savage, right? So it's like, and I kind of feel like I remember, but I was too little to confirm. I feel like I remember watching, like, do you remember that old WWF mania with Savage and Todd Pettigale?
00:42:44
Speaker
Yes, find him on YouTube. I just like remember like maybe I had him on one of the tapes. I don't know but I just feel like I remember that Savage too but that's probably because it takes but I'm just like I've always he stood out to me the most out of everyone even over Hogan. Even as a kid I didn't like Hogan that much. I was even like a warrior guy. I don't think I really cared about the big bodybuilding
00:43:05
Speaker
Yeah, like the big the big as a as a big he coined it the big meaty men slapping me About that much I think I care more about like your ability to be a character and over the top cuz like Yeah, and Sean Brad and Sean on my top five, right? Yeah, Brett very pink glasses Sean very bored
00:43:28
Speaker
village person stripper like you know like yeah very contrasting they very well then my captain my imagination the most that maybe those two like are like Brett was like a childhood hero my Bret Hart was like I'm from Canada that was like the coolest person Brett symbolized what being cool was like you know you want to be like Brett he was like a human that was bigger than life and then Sean was like
00:43:56
Speaker
96, 97 Sean was like, you know, this guy's cool, but there's something risky about him. And then he was like, he was like the trouble, like, you know, but the two that captured my imagination the most and the two that were like instant favorites of mine because of their characters and who they were were Savage and the Undertaker.
00:44:18
Speaker
Like those are my two favorite, like there was a point I did not watch SmackDown every week. Cause they moved it to Fridays and I was a teenager and I had plans and this wasn't setting, I wasn't recording it on tapes anymore. And it wasn't like you could come home and watch every single clip that happened on that show on YouTube and Instagram. Like you, if you missed it, you missed it. And you can get like maybe 30 second clips on www.com. Like,
00:44:44
Speaker
I would do my best to just see that if Undertaker was scheduled to be on the show, I want to see what the Undertaker was doing. Still, as I got older, it's just one of those characters that, I can't, I remember talking to someone like, oh, like what were your favorite Undertaker matches from like the 90s? And I'm like, I couldn't.
00:45:00
Speaker
I don't know, like I don't know if the matches are really even that good to be honest. Now going back to some bangers, there's some bangers like the taker Brett matches from SummerSlam and in England and Sean, but at a kid, I didn't care about the matches like that. I cared about, all I cared about the matches for when I was a kid was to see how the story played out and if my favorite would win. Yeah. No, no, that's how, that's how it should have went. People care about the matches so much.
00:45:31
Speaker
Yeah. And now you have an old company like AW that just books matches that people want to see with zero substance. With no reason, 90% of the time. 10% will be a proper future storyline. But most of the time it's just a match being booked for the case vote. That'd be a match. Yeah. See I'm old school in a sense where I talk all this all the time on pretty much on the Chick Foley show and on Rawdown where I'm a storyline.
Importance of Storylines and Character Development
00:45:59
Speaker
guy of a character, guy like, and that's what wrestling will always be. You can't not that AWS, you know, trying to make it a real sport per se, but like, that's all the wins win loss record that that doesn't work in wrestling because you watch wrestling to escape into the stories of the characters, not into loss records, especially in North America. Yes, exactly. This place feeds off drama.
00:46:25
Speaker
Okay, yeah, there's millions of people that watch soap operas in like primetime television, early morning TV, like, people want to know what's happening in entertainment, people want to know who Kendall Jenner is dating every week, people want to know, like, yeah, is doing people the news is basically heels and babyfaces, depending what side you're on.
00:46:45
Speaker
American news. I always say, like, why do you watch it? Like, she's like, do you like, Oh, like she's, what are you like? Why do you watch it? I was like, why do you also watch Fox? Because I'm like, technically they're putting promos on each other. Oh my God, dude. That's you just like, yeah, here's, we're like on the same wavelength. Cause I always say as a wrestling fan, when you're watching like any type of news programs or any type of show that you watch one of those like housewife shows and all that stuff, like the real housewives or whatever, like,
00:47:15
Speaker
your brain already, as a wrestling fan, goes into heels, faces, promos. That's literally what happens when you watch anything. Especially politics. Same thing on tails, faces, promos. I feel like Don Lemon's on CNN crying like a baby face.
00:47:33
Speaker
You know, Sean Hannity's on Fox cutting a scathing promo on the ground. Yeah. It's like a big corporate deal. It's wrestling. It's literally everything's wrestling. You know when everybody came out of the woodwork when UFC popped off and they used to watch wrestling. I watch UFC. I'm like, how do they build up every single one of their matches? These guys hugging and kissing each other and shaking hands every time they beat the crap out of each other after a fight and they just made bucket loads of money. But they build you up with this fake rivalry for weeks and weeks and weeks. Yeah, it's the same thing.
00:48:01
Speaker
well they're cutting wrestling from each other and they hate each other but then you know they fight each other someone wins and they're hugging each other and be like i respect you man it's it's literally 101 wrestling and implemented the drama fact of it to build his fights to build draws and to get people to buy his paper music company shows
00:48:21
Speaker
But it's just real, you know what I mean? Exactly. They took the part of wrestling that really works in North America and made it work for real fighting. And we weren't backwards. And we're like, hey, who cares about the drama part? Give us the fake fighting. And it's so weird to me. And I love a good wrestling match as much as the next person. I love a good wrestling match. I think today's wrestlers are way more athletic than previous generations of wrestlers. Previous generations of wrestlers, let me tell you, these guys today, they do stuff we would never even have to do.
00:48:51
Speaker
And then I forget who was talking, but someone's like, I don't believe in the term ring psychology. It doesn't exist. It does exist. It's just that you guys don't care about it no more. You'd rather do flips and kicks and get the crowds to pop. I think Randy Orton said it best. The rest is today. Randy doesn't say exactly this, but what Randy Orton said is,
00:49:13
Speaker
you should control the fans, the fans shouldn't control you. That was pretty much a random answer. But my point to that is like, I think we're asked to say like,
00:49:22
Speaker
they let the fans control them because they want them to stay high. It's okay to bring them down and then take them back up and then bring them down and take them back up. Nowadays, wrestlers want to be like up, up, up, up, up, up, up, down, up, down, down. There's no way to take up and down. I think the best route, and I think like the Wall Street, one of the most popular things in wrestling too is the bottom line, the WWE, right? That's it.
00:49:43
Speaker
everybody tunes in. Like sometimes Smackdown sucks from top to bottom with the best segments of Bloodline segment. We've dedicated an hour of that show to Bloodline on more than one occasion. Stay tuned in the entire hour. Roman's matches aren't that great. I'm like, you know what I will wait for in the Roman matches? That was like the last like five minutes of it because that's what you know is gonna get crazy.
00:50:10
Speaker
and there's a false finish of the thing getting broken. So like the first bit's gonna be at locks and you know chin locks and trash talking and walking around.
00:50:22
Speaker
Nobody's going to complain about it at the end of the day. No. Because that last five minutes is worth the wait. And then you understand that. You will make a sandwich come back for those last five, ten minutes and you're like, I think it's the greatest match ever. Yep. That's smart. Because sometimes I watch AEW.
00:50:42
Speaker
in a trashy AW pocket. I love AW guys. I love it. They're just some things that wish it a little bit better. And I think they were on track with that on collision for the first few weeks there. What's like, not everything needs to be bang, bang, bang, bang, bang all the time. Sometimes I have to watch Dynamite twice to even know what happened on that show.
00:51:04
Speaker
I saw Matt watching two times to really even know what happened in that match. I'm like, well that match was a bang. I'm like, dude, they went to a commercial break. I got totally taken out of it. They came back and I, you know, it just, I just think it's just, it's just a case of the modern day fans. I don't think, cause I think me and you a little bit of the old heads now being like, I don't know what's moving too fast. And these guys are just wrestling and flipping. And I understand that cause I think that's true. I'm not going to lie about that. I probably am that older fan that thinks I have no idea what's going on.
00:51:32
Speaker
I can go on like 1990s wrestling or 80s wrestling, early 2000s wrestling, 2006, seven, and I would sit there and be like, wow, this is like so easy to digest. But today, and it's everything. I'll tell you, it sounds, so I don't want to get help, but since it just sounds like I'm shitting on AW, I hate how WWE feels so overly produced.
00:51:53
Speaker
Like it feels so- I hear that a lot. It feels so perfect.
Instagram's Positive Community vs Twitter
00:51:58
Speaker
Like everything happens exactly how it's supposed to happen. There's a lack of like excitement that anything can happen on a WWE show.
00:52:06
Speaker
Yeah, you know everything that's happening is exactly how they want to happen. The stage is set exactly how they want to be lit up like it's a big production. Like you would turn into like a raw that's on my TV right now and it's like you know the putting on a show for you and it doesn't feel authentic and it doesn't feel raw. It feels very
00:52:27
Speaker
Cooked. I'm like, well done. Perfectly grilled, you know? Yeah, produced. Yeah. I will give you this. I tune in every week and I look forward to it every week because I'm like, anything could happen on the show. Yeah, you don't know what the hell's going to happen on that show sometimes. Like anything could happen. They can give us a card and something crazy could happen. It's Vince Russo, Crash TV, as he used to call it back in the day. But I want to bring it back to a little bit when you were speaking about, you know,
00:52:57
Speaker
the social media part of it when you chose Instagram over like Twitter and Facebook and stuff. Cause we have like an inside joke on the Chick Foley show where I run the Twitter page.
00:53:10
Speaker
Um, and she runs her the chick photo, obviously the chick fully Instagram page, but she doesn't want to deal with the, with the, uh, the toxicity of the, of the Twitter world or the Twitter verse, as they say. So, you know, she gave me those reigns to do it, but myself, I don't even get involved in any of the, uh, like the tribalism stuff and you know, people going back and forth. Cause it's, and it's not, you can, you can, you can, you can have a social media presence on Twitter. If you.
00:53:40
Speaker
you know do it right um and not you know not engage. I feel like you have to pick a side to really pop off on Twitter though like you and you're part of it but if you really want to like get popular and get followers you got to pick a side. Yeah you got to like go full hail or full baby. You got to pick a side. There's no betweeners. I can't do that. Or you have to be a legitimate new source for
00:54:05
Speaker
Yeah, I can't do that with our sheet is really, really funny. Those public enemy guys are funny, but I don't know. Public enemies. Great dude. Like this, like there's some really good, uh, cause you know, but they're funny. So you can be funny and get a run to it.
00:54:20
Speaker
Yeah. I just don't want to, you know, you know, Sheena has like, you know, the chick Foley page is more obviously she has her, you know, she gets into, you know, she, you know, CM Punk. She's out of fantasy and punk or back in the day with Samoa Joe, which kayfabe, she does actually like Samoa Joe, but she had this whole gimmick where she hated Samoa Joe, but it was like, and she, so if you read those comments where she would like shit on Samoa Joe, like he has an army of fans that you do not want to
00:54:48
Speaker
want to deal with that. I don't like John Cena the character. It's the truth, guys. There's no gimmick. And I get it all the time. So I completely relate. And I've had so many running gimmicks. The whole I'm in love with Carmella gimmick. I ran with the whole Obree Bella thing and being the biggest Sasha Banks fan. I ran with so many things that aren't as real as people think they are. But it's just like, and they're in on it. Well, Sasha, not so much. But Carmella's been in on it since day one.
00:55:15
Speaker
He knows what I'm doing. I met Graves, and he's like, I feel like I've heard of you before. And then he's like, cool. You know what I mean? Some people don't think it's too far. They don't get that it's a joke. I'm like, no, it's like.
00:55:32
Speaker
It's cool. Like we're cool. Everyone's cool. It's just, it's the editing. I caught Sasha Banks, Salsa Banks for like four or five years. I think the pissed her off, but like, damn, there's just gimmicks, right? Everyone, you know, we got to run with stuff that, Oh yeah. They've been doing that forever. How I came on this show the another day, the other elbows. I used to say goodnight misfits and call me a misfits. I've had 30,000 gimmicks on this page. Wow.
00:55:55
Speaker
I remember all those too. That's also like a maturity thing too. When I started the pay dose, 22 and I was a little dumb and stupid. And like my attitude era, you know, like post some stuff I probably shouldn't have posted, said some stuff I probably shouldn't have said. When I was like 22, 23 years old, I'm now like, almost 10 years late. It's almost been 10 years since around this period. It started in 2014.
00:56:19
Speaker
you know, I've grown up. I've matured. I look at the kids that say stupid stuff or have funny opinions. And I'm like, man, I remember when I was, I won, I said those things and one where I was comfortable enough to post these things on social media when there wasn't a plethora of wrestlers and people in the industry following. Yeah. Let's get into that. Cause like, you know, you have the, you know, the conversations with the classic and all that stuff. And how did you get into like,
00:56:49
Speaker
Like how did you get to in with like talking to all these different individuals and stuff like that? Cuz yes I'm uh, I mean if you obviously if you're listening out there and you follow his page you see in his interviews he's interviewed the top of the top and you know Everyone literally everybody I get I get
00:57:07
Speaker
Think I'd like to talk. I want to interview more people. I've been trying to get more interviews But I mean this year alone Trish stratus stone. Yeah Don't cold like how do you how does that happen? I Give the secrets. What are you doing? Okay, I mean, okay I already like spent 56 minutes just crapping on
00:57:31
Speaker
which I love and I don't, I want both companies to succeed. It comes from a good place. You know, if anyone takes this out of context, listen to this part. The context is I love WWE and I love AWS. I want them both to succeed, but I like certain things. That being said, I never wanted to do interviews. I never thought I was going to do an interview. I never thought I was going to do a podcast. I never had no intention. I started this page because I wanted to connect with the wrestling fans. I wanted to create that like based on Instagram where people would just enjoy wrestling and be positive about it. I think one of the,
00:58:00
Speaker
biggest things that has also been a detriment to me, because I don't get the same opportunities, because I'm not like a news source breaking this dirt sheet. I don't get the opportunities they get, because they come off as these credible publications and whatnot, and I don't. But on the flip side, I also get a lot of opportunities, because I'm not. And because a lot of these people in the industry will be like, you know what? And it's usually the talent more so. And honestly, now people even backstage and like social media teams and companies are like, no, we like your stuff, because
00:58:31
Speaker
You're authentic, you're very positive, and you're not really ever shitting on everything. I used to tell people when I was actually doing my TWC show on a weekly basis, I ended that from 2019 until this past January, and I mean to bring it back, it just a lot has happened this year.
00:58:47
Speaker
You know, I was like, if you ever really want to hear me talk crap about anything, listen to the show because you're not going to get it on the page. You know, it's not about John Cena or like just simple things. Like I didn't enjoy this. I did enjoy that. Yeah. The point to where like, I didn't even really care. I look, it's kind of like that right now too. I mean, I don't like kill what happens.
00:59:06
Speaker
I like the outcomes don't affect me much. Like I remember when I'll tell you exactly a period I remember for sure because someone asked me about an initial like, yo, how do you feel about like the Goldberg beating the fiend? And I was like, oh, I thought I was like, not personally, I was like, if I was bad, I think it was dumb, but I'm like, I don't, I don't, it doesn't affect me. Yeah, I'm intrigued to see how everybody else is reacting.
00:59:27
Speaker
Because when you get to a point where you like are a place to where people get to react, I look like not like I kind of probably know how Vince feels like he doesn't care what happens. He just likes to see how everyone's gonna react to what he does. Exactly. I just like to see what how people react to what happens. I wonder if they're gonna go crazy or if they're gonna lose this arena trend tonight.
00:59:47
Speaker
that's why I don't even care like oh go over meet the fiend yeah that sucks bad idea in my mind but yeah let's see what they're saying on twitter because this is crazy yeah let's see what happens um so I think uh just because I was a positive platform uh and I and I've heard this from wrestlers
01:00:07
Speaker
plenty of times, especially at the beginning. Cause there's been a weird, like there is a, I wasted so much time talking about wrestling, but like there is a weird trajectory of what happened on my page. Like initially it was just pictures and then just 15 second videos. And I put some here and there, then minute videos and you can do slides for 10 minutes. And I would always post like full matches and promos and a lot of wrestlers I met over the years. Like, no, we love watching and stuff when we're on the road.
01:00:30
Speaker
Like when we're on the road, we come to your page. I've had people that produce shows for the WWE network, like, yo, when will it come up with WWE list or like top 20, like we remember things from looking at your page. Look, oh yeah, you guys remember this? I've had social media team, certain people blatantly, but indirectly tell me like, no, like you're the man. We've taken ideas from your page and they're like on WWE's page. They're like, you know what I mean? Like, you gotta remember when I was posting videos and stuff, WWE wasn't.
01:00:58
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. It was like gold graphic filters on them or something. Like it was weird. You know, you know, then those weekly best selfies of the week. So they could post all the women's best. Like I introduced like, Oh, every day you're getting women's best list on the page. Yeah. That's right. Wow. The Bella army and I'm posting the Bellas all the time. Like, wow. You know, like there's a lot of things I did. So I think I, people just, uh, the positivity, respect of the grind, their creativity and, um,
01:01:29
Speaker
And then it became the situation of me having to continuously grow. I just felt like if you keep doing the same thing, then.
01:01:39
Speaker
that's gonna get boring, you know? I tried selling merch. I did a few interviews early on with like the Singh brothers and some local wrestlers and that MJF on two times before he popped off and just, you know, interviewed Rikishi and Sean Mooney, did live streams. And then I would always kind of start and stop. It wasn't like anything I could consistently do. It's hard to, it's hard to get interviews. It's hard to get people to come on your show. To want people to come on your show.
01:02:08
Speaker
So I think it's a matter of relationship building. And I remember, and I'm going to give a couple of people a shout out. So what happened was, I started when the pandemic happened, and I was stuck at home. And I couldn't go back to California back and forth. And I was like, what am I going to do at home? I'm like, I made all these cool relationships with people over the years. Why not just interview them? But I wasn't thinking of big names. I was getting people I was cool with, other people in the community that I was friends with. Like Chris Van Vleet, and Alicia Attude, and Frank the Clown.
01:02:36
Speaker
you know they're not the great people but they're not like the major names that you know might a lot of people listen might actually know they're probably like well look at them oh yeah it's like i was getting these guys on the show and it was cool and and um it kind of got me in the groove and whatnot and then uh the whole story that uh i lost my page happened for five and a half months the page got shut down and then
01:02:59
Speaker
I started a whole new page, I got a 40k and then I got the old page back. But, you know, a lot of people like the pandemic and losing the page, like, was that like one of the hardest times of your life? I'm like, no, I think I'm a big, there's beauty in the bullshit and there's a silver lining type of guy. Like it doesn't matter how bad something is.
01:03:18
Speaker
At a certain point you can look back and like, find something why benefit you know I think the pandemic was my page benefited me in many ways. One the pandemic benefited me and something huge just happened on raw on the pandemic benefited me because
01:03:33
Speaker
I started doing the interviews and I was stuck at home and I had to get creative like what I was going to do because my whole plan at that point was I was going to move to California and do stuff with Dash Radio. I started networking, do some stuff, but I didn't really have a direction of what I wanted to do. And I didn't know what, when people would ask me like, what are you like, you're an Instagram page? Like you're a fan page? Like you're not a dirt sheet. You're not tech. I wasn't writing a tech sheet. I had the wrestling.com, wrestlingclassic.com for a bit and I wrote articles and predictions, but I wasn't like a,
01:03:58
Speaker
know, I wouldn't say I was like writing for any major publication now. It would be 7 p.m., which is Gary Vee's website. I would be asking articles, which is like, right now I can credibly say I'm a writer for a website that's owned by someone that's credible, right? And then I became a host because the podcast was done in 2019, but I kept it going through the pandemics, and I'm a host. Now, I guess I'm an interviewer full-time because I started interviewing people, and
01:04:22
Speaker
I was fortunate enough that because of my years of being this popular Instagram page, I had content that people want to see and I was promoting people's stuff and helping them out. Like Seamus and me built a relationship cause he's like, dude, every time I put out a Celtic warrior work on you always posted about it. And I appreciate it. So when he came to Vancouver, I was like, yo, do you mind if we do an interview? And I didn't, this was 2017. So way before 2020 and I got to do with them and I was nervous. And my first and first one, you can see me watch me. I didn't know what to do with my hands the whole time and I'm all weird. Like,
01:04:50
Speaker
You know, my friend's studio, we're going to sit in chairs, but he got stuck in the tarmac at the airports. I took even longer. Like it was a whole situation, right? So, um, but these opportunities came because I was like, no, you're always a positive. You put more stuff. You always have her back. You look out for the rest is, you're not like some, they're trashing the business thing. Don't watch F this F that F E W F W you're like, no, like watch everything, have your opinions, but like appreciate and enjoy wrestling.
01:05:16
Speaker
because I had a bunch of people already following me. So when I got my page back after the five and a half months and they deleted my other page, because that's, I don't even know, two things happened. One, people realized I was gone and I came back. So there was this, oh my God, you're back. Two, trying to get my page back, I created like this,
01:05:36
Speaker
a relationship that I thought I didn't have that was non-existent that I found out I did with both companies, WWW, like they knew who I was. Yeah. Yeah. And I just never like had the belief that I could just reach out to them and try to do something, even though I've done stuff with them in the past. Like I got a couple of kids that went through, you know, some, you know, uh, Steven's wrestling journey. You guys can all follow him. He's had like three brain surgeries. He's like a 10 year old, 12 year old kid now. Um, and his little brothers are autism. And I remember,
01:06:06
Speaker
he made a video and he posted it and the people at Sportsnet where they are on the WWE shows reached out to me. I was like, do you know anybody at WWE that like could get these kids to be Roman
Adapting to Social Media Challenges
01:06:15
Speaker
Reigns? I'm like, aren't you guys Sportsnet and doesn't all the rest of the couple of people that I knew and like I knew one of the main social media guys for years. I just always, this was a lesson for anyone. I always assumed he didn't like me or like he was just kind of like,
01:06:28
Speaker
That guy because every time I met him he blow the guy from the Internet. Oh the wrestling guy. Yeah brush me off I thought he's actually was realistically in real life busy and I always took it absolutely brushes me off He doesn't want to talk. He just thinks I'm like, yeah, I got on my own head But when I reached out to him about these kids Well, you know, he helped me out and he's like, okay Well you do other due diligence like, you know, cuz you have to like just make sure they're telling the truth They're not like to try and get back into me Roman
01:06:53
Speaker
Yeah, it can happen I did and at the end of 2019 about these two kids are gonna be Roman Reigns in Toronto before Christmas W made a whole video for it that they put on the YouTube channel So like I had that so I look I had that a little bit of like we did do something together I reached out to him and I was like, hey like I lost my page So he's like no did we know what your page is? You know, you're positive all the stuff like I'll help you this one time to get it back I'm like, I think everyone's gonna say that cuz they want to continuously help me get my page back He's like well, I'll be this one time and
01:07:21
Speaker
And then they did, and then the AW, same thing. But that was a little bit more of a different situation because they told me, help us promote, post our videos, this and that. And then those videos go outside and they're like, just don't post videos anymore. TNT is like taking them down. That's not us, but a little bit of a risk, right?
01:07:37
Speaker
they were like so they kind of felt more entitled that they had helped me anyways but then that strengthened their relationship because then they got to know me a little bit more and then I got the page back and I had to obviously adapt I could no longer post videos I couldn't post like old school clips that I used to post like it's a risk for me I know there's lots of pages out there that do but I always joke around I you know I thought like
01:08:02
Speaker
Oh, it was good to be popular and be under their radar, but there was like a reason why it wasn't good either because I was too much under their radar that like I had too much.
01:08:15
Speaker
power to will people's opinions or like take clicks from or the, you know, anyone could get the wrong idea and think I was monetizing up their content, which I was. Yeah. And I remember I said that to the social media guy that helped me too. I'm like, you know, firsthand, because I'm like anyone that's like back there that doesn't do social media.
01:08:34
Speaker
might think I'm monetizing on stuff. I'm like, you know, you can't make money off Instagram like that. It's not YouTube. I'm not getting, you know, a dollar for every hundred views or something like that. That's not how this works. And he's like, no, I know. He's like, okay. So like, he's like, just don't do it because if they see you post videos, then they feel like they have a reason to take you down. If you're posting pictures or whatever that they don't have any reason to believe that you're making money off of that. Right.
01:08:58
Speaker
Cause I think that's what the confusion was because it wasn't the social media team that took my page. I actually know who took my, one of the people that made claims on my page from WWE. He's no longer there, but I don't think he liked me, but I've talked to him plenty of times in the past.
01:09:09
Speaker
Anyways, that's a little inside cut, but when I got the page back, I had to switch things up and I had to figure out like what to do. And honestly, to be honest with you, for a minute there, my heart wasn't it. I was like, I kind of felt what it was like not to be the wrestling classic for a minute. I tried working with other people to grow their wrestling social medias and work with them on the team. Because for a minute, they're like, until this day, technically, kind of, I do everything myself. No one else is writing the page. Like there's no Rob. Yeah.
01:09:34
Speaker
the last year, I was like, Oh, cause I'm on here. Like, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, it's, it's, it's nobody else.
Collaborations and Inspiration from Young Creators
01:09:40
Speaker
It's me by myself. Like I do now kind of do this stuff with false finish. Guys follow that page. I do follow that. That's like the news that's actually mainly Danny, like all the graphics that are news related or quotes and stuff. That's Danny. Cause he wanted to kind of like be a reliable news source. Um, and that's the reason that we both use that page is actually our old podcast page from our podcast in 2019. So I'm like,
01:10:02
Speaker
If you want to see the following that we grew together then we might as well do this together and I can help you out at the same time so we can collaborate and stuff because some news I do I don't mind sharing. If it's actual news like CM Punk got fired like that's actual confirmed viable news then yeah sure like I'll collaborate on that. If it's just like someone said something I don't disagree with or I think it's gonna piss someone off then I'm not gonna collaborate on that but um yeah
01:10:28
Speaker
So then I took me like about, I got, I think I got my page back in November and it was around January. I was like, man, like, do I want to do interviews still? Like I wasn't really, they were fond and like locked down, locked down. But I'm like, it started becoming more of a task. And I like, I don't know. I just kind of, I would never intend to do. And I kind of fell out of it. And then I met these two kids, Daniel and Vikram, which who are now both like,
01:10:52
Speaker
Vikram's already on the independent scene wrestling now. He's like 20 years old and Daniel is just starting to wrestle now and having his first match soon. But at the time they were just two kids. They were upset my page got taken down. They did a lot to try to help me get it back. They had me on their podcast right before the page got taken down.
01:11:11
Speaker
I remember I was talking to them because they were getting like T.J. Wilson and like Jimmy Joe's crazy guest. I'm like, how? Who are you kids? You guys have the benefit of like, I wish I was doing that when I was 21 years old too. I started doing it when I was like 30. There was that benefit of them being young kids and them being like, oh, I hope these kids out and do their show.
01:11:35
Speaker
So I was like, man, and they kind of were like, no, you just gotta, and I already knew this because I've done it for so many other things. I've done it for like connecting with wrestlers, trying to get them, you know, just to make building those relationships. And like, we just signed the DMs and just actually asked them.
01:11:49
Speaker
And I never really actually asked anyone. I'm like, I know all these people and they all follow me, but I never really like, just like, I never really did that. Like you're like, not ask for favors type of thing. Unless it was really important kind of attitude, which was, right. I really felt like I had the relationship with them and the WWE suppose I had that relationship with us. So kind of tough. I do remember asking gender again. It's like,
01:12:12
Speaker
Oh, I got to get permission this time. Like they get stressed when we do a bigger pages. And I'm like, well, now it's a problem because I'm a bigger page. So it's okay if someone smaller reaches out to you and you do it. But if I ask you like, I'm just now, now I'm so under the radar that I'm, I was never taken seriously as a publication, but now I am like, I'm so confused.
01:12:34
Speaker
Renee left Renee
Journey from Aspiring Writer to Broadcaster
01:12:35
Speaker
Paquette left WWE like she was she left and I was like, Oh, I've been cool with Renee forever. She's been sportsnet been watching her forever. She's following my page for years. We've had good rapport met her in person. She was super cool.
01:12:49
Speaker
it'd be cool to have her on this show. I didn't have a show at that point. I just brought it back then. So it's like, if I asked her name, she's, and she'll never understand that. I think I said to her a few times, even post about it. And I think she's always kind of like, so whatever, but I hope she understands. Like if she said no, I probably wouldn't have continued doing it. Like really, she said, I just, I just, I just, I just never wanted to like, and I think does, how do you feel my mess? How old are you?
01:13:13
Speaker
I am 40. Okay, I don't I feel like there's this thing, or like when you're in your early and mid 20s, it's gonna happen with a lot of creators, a lot of creators actually like I grew up watching stuff myself, where
01:13:27
Speaker
At first, when you're in your early 20s, your early 20s and mid 20s, like you kind of want to be in front of the camera. You want to be that guy. Yeah. You want to grow. You want to be that influencer and even absolute popular creators, like popular creators, like you're like Logan Paul, like big YouTubers of it. Yeah. At some point you go from one to be in front of the camera and then you like turn like 27, 28. And then you're like, I want to produce the stuff and be behind it out of the scene and like, and that's what I was kind of, I'm like, I don't really, I'm interviews. Like I'm not to put myself out there all the time. Yeah.
01:13:58
Speaker
I still don't think I'm that great at it, but every time I do that, I'm like, no, you're good, man. Like, I'm going to talk a lot. And like, you're good at it. Like, and I remember when I was younger, my friends like, you should be like a broadcast journalist and stuff, and I actually thought about it. But like, if you go on my page, on my personal page, Justin Jones, there's a whole post after, it's been one year since I interviewed Danny Bryant on stage last year, here in my crew in front of 300 people. It's a year to date, September 11th, last year, I did that.
01:14:28
Speaker
blows my mind because I'm like there was a part of me that weirdly when I was a kid grew up watching like Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno and David Letterman and like I love those shows now man I'd love to just do something like this one day you know but never really like want to like pursue it but it's I'm telling you bro it's so weird like I took a journalism class on the call I'd love to be a writer I'm really good at writing
01:14:51
Speaker
never pursued it to become a writer, but now I write articles for wrestling. There was a point in my life where I was like, man, I'd actually love being like a Jay Leno or Jimmy Fallon, like the talk show and like we'll have fun, maybe play games with them and stuff. I haven't done exactly what I wanted to do, but I do interviews and I talk to really cool people and I get to interview them.
01:15:08
Speaker
but that was never my plan. Like, yeah, it was like I manifested the stuff and like, it's kind of thought that I wanted to do. When I was young and I was in school and the first year of college, I took general studies because I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I took creative writing and journalism. And I was like, oh, maybe I can see something with wrestling with this stuff. Had no idea how to do it. Then I went into marketing. I was like, oh, maybe I can do something with wrestling with stuff. Didn't know how I was going to do it. And then somehow,
01:15:38
Speaker
When I want to make a wrestling page and my ex girlfriend didn't want me to have Instagram because she thought I'd talk to too many girls. I deactivated my personal Instagram account and I made a secret wrestling page. Oh boy. I blocked all my friends and family. I somehow found a way to do something with wrestling. I found it a way to write. I found it a way to do interviews and be somewhat of a broadcaster all by chance.
01:16:02
Speaker
and just thinking of it as an idea once upon a time. And I think that's insane. And I think the biggest thing people need to be able to actually do these things is one, you need to believe in yourself a lot. You need to have a hell of a lot of patience. You need to be okay with rejection. And you also need to be okay with rejection.
01:16:26
Speaker
you ought to roll with the punches because the woman that you'll be loaded and have lots of money and the cash is rolling and next minute you're goddamn broke up and down and up and down and get taken away from you and you got to be ready for that and then you will be able to do what you want and I know people's life circumstances, family circumstances, financial circumstances, they're just that your circumstances in general may stop you from these things and that I completely understand but man if you can
01:16:53
Speaker
Just try. I mean, for the first, from 2014 to 2018, I was working at the bank the entire time while doing the rest in class and growing this. From 2019 to 2020, I was low key, you know, worked a couple of, I almost got into real estate. I was working on that for half the year. Then my buddy was gonna buy a business and I took over all that. And even till this day, I have clients still that I help them with their social media on the side so I can still pursue this.
01:17:21
Speaker
So I'm making money here, plus I'm also making money by being a social media manager and coordinator for a couple of different companies. That's a side people don't see. You still gotta be blind, but just don't quit if you can. Like if you cannot not quit, like if you have the opportunity to continue to keep going, just keep going. Cause every time I was about to stop doing something, something crazy would happen. I'm like, oh, F this rest and classic stuff.
01:17:44
Speaker
The Rock follows me. Oh, after this wrestling class stuff, the weekends following me. After this wrestling class stuff, oh, do you want to interview Stone Cold Steve Austin? After this wrestling class stuff, do you want to do this? That brings me back in. Yeah. And the relationships I built and the things I've got to do and the friendships I've been able to make with people I never would ever met if I never made this page from all around the world.
01:18:07
Speaker
It's priceless. I can't put a price on the experiences in the life I've got to lead in the last nine years because of this. Some kid followed me from the very beginning.
01:18:22
Speaker
Liked my stuff, used to comment on my stuff all the time. One day, comment on my page. One day, you're going to be posting me on your page. I'm going to be a WWE superstar. I drove home and told my dad I wanted to be a wrestler. I left my scholarship, football scholarship, went home to my dad. I wanted to be a wrestler and now I'm doing it. And the fact that this man ended up becoming MJF and he's given me a shot on TV and I still talk to his dad.
01:18:48
Speaker
Because of this page is wild. That's insane. Personal relationships.
01:18:58
Speaker
with the entire heart family, including Brett, is wild, because I was my childhood heir. I went to go meet Brett Hart when I was six years old, and my brother and my sister had like a Dunkin Donuts or some place. I don't remember. I do remember crying because I was a baby, nervous. I said, oh, my mom was not even getting my 10 sign. But my brother and my sister got their sign. I didn't want my 10 sign.
01:19:19
Speaker
And then fast forward, I'm 26 years old and Bret Hart pulls me, coming back from the restroom, pulls me out of the rustle con line and says, why are you standing in line? Justin takes me to the front and like knows who I am. Thank you for taking my questions out when they came to Vancouver. Thanks for being so nice to everybody in my family. Thanks for being such a big fan. Oh, can you sign this jacket? Oh, he's only allowed to sign one thing, the ladies don't pull the jacket. No, no, I want to keep writing on it. Best match ever.
01:19:45
Speaker
I've been to this guy's house. I liked wrestling. The fact that I've had conversations at The Rock the weekend, the fact that I haven't paid for a weekend concert the last three times he's come to Vancouver. That's insane.
Personal Connections and Fan Engagement
01:20:02
Speaker
And then you like at the beginning of this when I was like, you know, it's kind of crazy talking to you because obviously you don't see yourself as like,
01:20:10
Speaker
No, it's like, you know, like marquee or like this like pillar of, you know, the wrestling community, not even just like on Instagram, just in general, like, and for me talking to you and you saying that you have all these connections with people that that's like nerve wracking.
01:20:27
Speaker
in itself. Like I'm like, why am I, why am I, why are you giving me the time at night? I remember when I was born in WrestleMania in Dallas. WrestleMania in Dallas was the biggest trip for me. WrestleMania in Dallas was the biggest trip for me in 2016 because I just started putting my face out there. I just started like owning like I was the wrestling class. My girlfriend found out about it. It was out to the world. And then we're no longer together, but my ex-girlfriend found out about it.
01:20:53
Speaker
I was out to the world. But I remember going to WrestleMania in Dallas, seeing people wearing wrestling classic shirts. And people stopped me and asked me if they could take a picture with me. Back then I said no, because I'm like, I don't take pictures of people. But I went to WrestleMania 18. And I remember at the Royal Rumble in Arizona, a kid came crying to me. He's like, yo, like, you know,
01:21:10
Speaker
I don't know how many friends I like wrestling. I always feel left out, but I feel like I'm part of something with your page. And he's like in tears with me. And I'm like, this is wild. And I've had some crazy interactions over the world that makes, that does make it surreal to me. I think it's weird when you get to a point where you go somewhere and someone's like, yo, can I take a picture with you? I'm like, why?
01:21:28
Speaker
because they had that connection. It ain't gonna be worth anything, trust me, but like to them it is though, that's a difference. Because even those two kids, Daniel and Vikram, like I'll talk to Daniel, oh dude, I remember being like grade seven, looking at your page, I'm like grade seven. And I'm like 22 years old, we talk all the time, like you were a little kid watching, like it's, it's, it's crazy to think like. Yeah.
01:21:56
Speaker
So yeah, like the interview stuff when Renee said, yeah, I said, yeah. And then the ball was to the wall. And then I just realized to start taking more risks. I'm like, why not just ask people? I reached out to Gary Vee's team. They gave me Gary Vee and just, just, it's making those network connections. I met someone that knew Danielson who ended up being Danielson's manager. And he gave me the Danielson interview. Then I just like went in there and I started asking the rest as directly, they want to come to the show and they would say yes. And AW they can just say yes and do it. I say yes and go ask.
01:22:21
Speaker
And I don't spoon the beans, but that's people ask me, like, how did you start that? I'm like, I went to the wrestlers and the wrestlers asked on my behalf to the point where I made the relationship. So now they just give them to me when I, when I, they do their best to give them to me when they can. Um, or if I do ask someone, like, I make sure to go through the proper channels not to piss anybody off, but I took that risk of just getting them myself first. Yeah. It was a lot tougher. I'm still working on that beast. Um, but it's weird because when they came to Vancouver, they reached out to me.
01:22:51
Speaker
It'd be nice if they reached out to me all the time. But they're cool. That's the brick wall I'm trying to crack through right now. But I still don't think I'm a great interviewer. I don't know if I enjoyed doing them, but I always am my own biggest critic. I think they all suck. I hate watching myself back. I hate editing them. I'm the same way.
01:23:14
Speaker
I judge myself, did I say I'm too much? Did I say 100% too much? Did I say fair too much? Did I talk too much? Was I cutting the rustle off? I never intend to do that. Sometimes I get excited. In some cases, I get nervous. I have this theory, and you can tell me if you relate, right? I have this theory where
01:23:34
Speaker
If it's anyone modern, like if it's Kevin Owens or an Orange Cassidy or Dax and Cash or Malachi, like I don't really get nervous. Cause I feel like we're on the same age and I probably hang out here. Like it's like, you know, I can't fanboy or fangirl or anyone like that. But like if it's any of the OG people that I watch as a kid, like it was Stone Cold or Brett, those nerves. I remember like when I was about to interview Trish earlier this year and I would come ask him like, Oh, you're going to interview Trish, you're going to be like, man, I'm like, this is like work to me now. Like I don't get nervous.
01:24:03
Speaker
I'm gonna do a bada-bing bada-boom bada-bang, I'll be done, I'll be good, whatever. I'm sitting at the place, Trish walks to the door, all the nerves. All the nerves, because I was in prison too, and I was like, oh my gosh, she's so pretty and she's real. You know what I mean? Because like, you know, she was like from my childhood, like she was there in very pivotal years of my life. So, oh my God. So then, then I feel like the nerves kick in when it's people I grew up watching.
01:24:32
Speaker
Yeah. Modern people, we're the same, we're people, we're humans, we go out and have dinner or something, you know? Man. Yeah, the one that had like, you know, the stone cold, like, see you, it's stone cold. That was, I mean, that was pretty surreal. Was it surreal to you? 100%. That was one of those, I didn't plan that. I didn't ask for that. I didn't even think that was possible.
01:24:57
Speaker
That was one of those situations where I was on like, you know, and this year was crazy because I haven't been to a WrestleMania or a big wrestling weekend. Like I've been to a couple of revolutions, you know, a SmackDown, a live show here and there. I haven't been to a big wrestling weekend since 2019 at this point.
01:25:12
Speaker
So now it's 23 and it's WrestleMania. Because 2020 couldn't go anywhere. 2021, I could, but it was a little bit hectic. 2022, my bad. I missed WrestleMania weekend. I should have went. This is like, it's in LA. It's like my second home. I found me down there. My family owns a house down there now. Like I shouldn't have any issues ever going to California. Like, um, like literally like my, my first cousins and everyone went down. So like it's, California is like a second home to me. So I was like,
01:25:36
Speaker
Like I can't miss wrestling in California. So I went down there and it was such a big reminder of like, Oh, I'm somebody because when I'm in Vancouver, like I'm just me and I love that. And I love that the people had know that I'm just the same old Justin that we went to high school with just, you know, all my friends are married, having babies. Like that's, that's what I do. I can go hang out with them in their lives and their babies and like stuff like that. So it's like, it's not, you know, the half of them don't even watch wrestling. Well, they're super happy for me and stuff. But they, you know, they think it's super cool, but like, they don't really.
01:26:03
Speaker
give a shit. It's nice. Like, I like that there's like, you know, this wrestling classic, there was pre wrestling classic Justin, I got my old G friends and like, it doesn't matter whether I fail or succeed, they're still going to be my friends, you know, like, yeah. And so like that. So I forget sometimes and WWE native, I mean, native, which is a whole tour in Canada, and they stopped in Calgary, they didn't come to Vancouver.
01:26:28
Speaker
So this is not like a hotspot where we get a lot of people coming here all the time and go to see them often. And the closest that they come usually, but it's like once a year is Seattle. So we'll go there. So I forget sometimes. I forget the connection I have and how people know me. So this WrestleMania weekend was a big reminder of that.
01:26:47
Speaker
Being invited to the WWE hotel and seeing Natalia and the Sheamus guys after so long and Dakota Kai getting so excited to finally meet me in person. And I went to this 2K event and I walked in there all like, I haven't seen anybody in three years. Think about that.
01:27:06
Speaker
I made all these connections with like Peter Rosenberg and Ryan Sadin. I know all these guys, Kaz and you know, Kathy Kelly, like I know all these people have not seen them in three years. Before I went, I'm like, I need to go because out of sight, out of mind, like everyone knows what I am. But if they don't see me often, they'll forget about me when opportunities come up. Yep.
01:27:24
Speaker
just being there was like a really big reminder. So I remember the biggest thing that happened that weekend for me personally was, okay, I was going to get this Bret Hart interview. Like that was going to happen this weekend. Like it was almost like, we're supposed to do it virtually. And then I remember his son also, aren't you going to be in LA for us many anyways? I'm like, guys, why don't you, my dad's do it in
Interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin
01:27:44
Speaker
person. And I'm like, Oh, even better. We're just doing it. So like, I knew that was going to happen. Right. What I didn't know.
01:27:51
Speaker
was I went okay so I went to California first for revolution in the Bay Area
01:27:56
Speaker
And I thought something was going to happen. They were trying to make some connections, yada, yada, yada. Nothing really happened. I was really hungover the day of revolution. I didn't even ask a question. I probably should have guys like, well, you live and you learn, right? Like not ever going to do that again. So like, um, just, I felt like I messed up an opportunity. Um, I was going to go to LA from, uh, San Jose, like on a certain date, but I got this random email being like, Hey, like, do you want to attend this, uh,
01:28:27
Speaker
One, it was some Broken Skull IPA party. But if you come attend this, you also get to attend this private 2K party because we're inviting you as an influencer. And I don't even know. So I worked with Broken Skull IPA in 2019 when I first started my podcast. I reached out to them. I'm like, hey, you guys don't have these beers in Canada. I would love to try them.
01:28:49
Speaker
Yeah. You send me some. I will promote them. I'll drink them on the show. I'll do the beer smash. I'll make you guys a video. Did all that stuff. It was cool. They were cool. They sent me a bunch of beer. I didn't even ask them to pay me. And then when this lady hit me up, I didn't think it was real. So I was like, okay, well.
01:29:07
Speaker
I have the worst ego because I barely have one. Everyone has one, but I'm not very... I undervalue myself sometimes. I don't see what other people see me as, so I'm like... Yeah. But in this moment, I was like, you know what? I want this much money.
01:29:25
Speaker
I want this one funny, I need some of my flight covered because I have to change my flight now because I'm coming down earlier if I come to this. And three, if possible, I want to interview Stilwell Steve Austin. I don't know where this came from. I don't know where this courage and these balls came from. I would like to interview Stilwell. I don't know where it came from.
01:29:41
Speaker
I'm like, if he's gonna be there and I'm here, let me interview Storm Cold, right? Cause this was like my, this WrestleMania was like my comeback WrestleMania, like I was like, make something happen this year. You just failed on yourself. I was feeling myself. It was so funny cause my one friend would always ask me like, okay, who would be a biggest interview? Like what would be like your cutoff? I'm like, I really want to interview Brad.
01:30:01
Speaker
And they're like, what would be crazier than that? Like, who do you think you could interview? That would be like, you don't think you'd get it. I'm like,
Starting Small in Content Creation
01:30:06
Speaker
stone cold because stone cold is also on my top five, right? So I'm just taking Brett, stone cold, Shawn Michaels, whatever it sounds like stone cold. Uh, cause I don't think I could ever get an undertaker and Sean, if I can build a relationship with WWE, I think you'd get shot.
01:30:18
Speaker
But I'm like, I'd get stone cold. And it's one of those things, I said it a couple of times and then I think it just manifested itself. I get this random email from this company, I don't know, inviting me to some event. I made a couple of demands. They said, okay, I'm like, oh, wow.
01:30:38
Speaker
Okay, there. But everything was okay, like the payment and we'll pay a little bit for your flight or whatnot. The stone cold thing was we'll try to make it happen. But to be fair, we won't know till the day off. Yeah. It depends on the stone cold schedule and his mood and etc. So I was like, all right. So I go down there earlier than I was supposed to.
01:31:02
Speaker
and go there in the morning and it's like a fan thing and they're filming something with that TV show that he ended up doing Stone Cold takes over USA, takes on America, I think. And they had a party for Broken Skull and I got to do the interview with Stone Cold and that was like super cool and it was nerve wracking and it was loud. And I put my mic on the wrong, like I put on the wrong thing.
01:31:27
Speaker
I didn't change it because I was nervous. I had a friend recording it on my iPhone. You guys, I don't have a team. I don't have a whole production team putting up lights and everything for me. It's a very amateur hour, but trying my best to make things happen, which is what I recommend everyone do. I think the best advice I've ever gotten was from my, I don't know if you've ever watched a movie, Holds.
01:31:48
Speaker
Yes. We're also, Cleo Thomas is a big wrestling fan. I mean, him became pretty good friends over the years. Every time I went to California, we'd make sure we'd at least hang out. And I almost thought that wasn't going to happen this time, but then I saw him at the WWE hotel too. I was like, Oh my God. One time I was on a call with him when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, like what direction I should take. And like, I want to start a show, but I want a studio and I want this and I want to look like Dan. He was like, listen dude, he's like,
01:32:13
Speaker
Just start. And once you start, you'll progressively, oh, the show will get better. The format will get better. You'll have a better place. You'll have a better background. Just like start doing it, right? And start putting it out. You know, like, he's like, go watch Joe Rogan's first podcast where him and his buddy are just sitting on the couch with a gun. Oh yeah. Right. He's like, you just got to start. I take that advice. Just do it. It's like the advice and two things that advice and the advice that got from the Singh brothers back in 2016 when I was sitting at the house recording one of our first podcasts was like, we just show up everywhere.
01:32:42
Speaker
to show up and just be in the same area. And I'm like, yeah, like, and both those things have been two really beneficial pieces of advice that I've taken with me. Everyone just started to just try to do it. Even if you're thinking already, just try to do it. I remember when Brett's kids reached out to me in 2015 and said, do you want to do a podcast with my dad? And I said, let me think about it. And then I, I, cause I wasn't ready. I didn't even know how to do a podcast. And then they ended up doing Nick Hausmann. I should have just said, yeah. I'm like, yeah. Yeah.
01:33:07
Speaker
but you learn, right? And then it took me like how many years to finally get an interview with Brett. But yeah, so then I go there and I remember I saw Austin, he got hyped up on my jersey, shook hands, obviously we're at the brewery. So he went straight from ha ha ha, happy Austin to like serious Austin, random eyes, looking right into my eyes. Yeah. It's like, God damn son, he's going to do this. He's like, we're going to do this, but stay sober.
01:33:42
Speaker
I don't think he's ever heard of me, right? Like he knew he was giving me this opportunity. He's like, doesn't know who this kid is. I'm going to give this kid an interview. Don't know. That's why it meant a lot. And I'm like, when he's like, Hey, you got a future in this business. Can you pretty good at this?
01:33:58
Speaker
We, I've never talked to Austin. I've never met Austin. We went into this of him being, he's doing this event in a good mood. All right. This kid wants to interview me. Let's see what he's got. When we went upstairs to do the interview and like he sat down, like ready to go. Like I had no time to like fix my mic and like he was ready and we had 10 minutes. Damn.
01:34:20
Speaker
And I think the fact that I was able to get him a little emotional talking about Brett this night, he's like, Oh, this guy got me. He ended up talking about Brett's whole next two events. Cause he went downstairs with the fans. He ended up whole thing. Then in the evening was a 2k event, which I didn't even know what this 2k event was. I came back to it and everybody just happened to be there. Like all Rosenberg and Kathy Kelly guys and Caleb Braxton and Xavier Woods in the middle. Like everyone was just there and I'm like, Oh, why am I here?
01:34:43
Speaker
Yeah. Do I even belong here? What the hell? But then like I said, it was a reminder that I do belong in these places and I have created something and I had a conversation with someone at the hotel one of the WrestleMania nights because I kept getting invited to the WWE hotel to like just hang out after the shows. And once again, I was having that imposter syndrome. Like what am I doing here? And I talked to this one guy, no one who's well known for a very long time, but he's really good friends with like gender and Rey Mysterio guys and Seamus stuff.
01:35:12
Speaker
And he was really happy to see me because we've always known each other. And I think this was the first time we met. He's like, yo, I want you to stop acting like you don't belong here. He's like, you belong here. He's like, you know what the crazy thing is? All these people actually know who you are. No one's looking at you like, what is he doing? They know. That's what I mean. He's like, I want you to remember that. He's like, you belong here. I said to him, I feel the weird being here. He's like, why do you feel weird being here?
01:35:39
Speaker
He's like, dude, like, you know, these people like you've helped out when like, they were going through stuff and you're putting over their products or their podcasts or their YouTube channels. You know, they leave the company, you're still posting them. I'm like, I guess, I guess I never looked at them that way. Like I said, I always look at myself and I don't, I don't like the way you introduced me. I'm like, I don't, I don't get the hype.
01:36:03
Speaker
You should, I mean, like I said, it's, it's, it's one of those things where, you know, I, like I, in the way of the beginning, I followed Sheena chick Foley, and then she posted a picture wearing your shirt, the wrestling class, and she tagged you in it. That's how I was introduced to you through her. And then I started following you. And that's why I say you two are kind of for me are the, like the wrestling, the Instagram wrestling pillars, because you're the, you're the two.
01:36:30
Speaker
sources i would go to for my wrestling content like it i didn't i didn't see anything else in the you know 2014 as far as wrestling was concerned on instagram like the day melted thing where like longevity makes you reputable yeah no that's that's exactly what it is it's i mean you sit around the more reputable you become exactly even if you're you know shoveling you know
01:36:52
Speaker
crap here and there for you. If you don't know what it is, you need to personalize, but hey man, they've been doing it for so long, they must know something. It goes back to like, I just think if everyone just keeps grinding and if you really enjoy it and you just have patience and know that like not everything is sunshine and rainbows and then you get rejected and like, like how many times have I jokingly said like I'm still trying to get WWE? Like there's some hurdles I'm still trying to climb over. Yeah, I mean, WWE hurdles, right? You just gotta, you gotta like it enough to like enjoy it.
01:37:20
Speaker
like yeah and like not get into like all the politics and fighting with each other and the jealousy stuff i know there's some people that always try to come after me you know as friends with them then they try to come after me i don't know if it's jealousy or like what it is but things just like fully turn on me i
Building Relationships in Wrestling Community
01:37:35
Speaker
don't know like i don't know it's funny because it's funny because would you would you uh
01:37:41
Speaker
You know, when you talk about like, you know, just going to do it, just like, you know, don't worry about, don't ask the questions. Cause if you get into your own head, you're not going to, you're not going to go forward and do anything. So when I was scared to interview Stone Cold, I wouldn't have done it. I was like,
01:37:59
Speaker
I can knock out 10 minutes. No, trust me, this, this interview like here, like, like right now, like this dude has spoken to like Bailey, Trish Stratus, so-called Steve Austin, Brad Hart. I'm like, what am I doing? When I first reached out to you, I was like,
01:38:18
Speaker
And I was like, yeah, he's not going to respond. Like he's, he's going to be like, uh, who the hell is this dude? But then, and then when you respond, I'm like, yeah, I'll do it. I was like, Oh no, what the hell did I get myself into? And it's not out of, it's not out of like, I like, just like, it's just, I, like I said, I was just, I have done it, but I'm not, I'm not, why did I talk so much? Why did I say this? Why did I say that? Nobody cares about my story. Um, I'm going to feel that way no matter what. Right. But it's just like.
01:38:47
Speaker
I don't know, you go reach out, you're really professional and you drop some mutual friends and I was like, okay. Well, so here's the thing, my idea behind this whole doing the show was to reach out to people that are like, that I follow obviously on social media and stuff like that. And I want to get to know them more. Obviously, if you know the term open mic, it's your first time you're on stage and you're doing that thing.
01:39:13
Speaker
For the most part, it's the first time I'm meeting these people, right? But there have been repeat people like the the the woman I had last week, Queen G. She's you know, the first time I spoke to her was earlier this year. She was, you know, she's like one of the like forefront people in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle community. Like she's like a big collector and stuff like that. I interviewed her like this past week. Now she has a deal with, you know, like Nickelodeon and Paramount and she's doing all these like crazy things and stuff like that. So like
01:39:43
Speaker
You know, I kind of took credit for, you know, her popularity. Now I'm joking. I didn't do that. But, but like, uh, no, she like, just like seeing that stuff, like, like, you know, creating that, that relationship with her. Now I know I can reach out to her. And if she's, you know, I could, I could have her on the show again, or if she's at some like convention or she's somewhere I can reach out and I actually go like meet her and stuff like that. So like, I always, I like doing this because it creates, you know, relationships for us. Because relationships are worth more than money. That's, that's always what I say. Like,
01:40:13
Speaker
The relationships you garner will take you for. You'll make money if you have the right relationships. Exactly. Yeah. So like, if, like the amount of people I met doing this, like, you know, even before that, you know, meeting Sheena, you know, becoming a regular on her show.
01:40:29
Speaker
And then, you know, from there, you know, um, ended up on the turnbuckle Tavern, uh, with those guys. And I ended up on their show and like just meeting all these people and stuff like that. And, you know, getting all these different relationships and stuff like that. I think it's, it's worth it. Just doing that. Like I'm not getting paid for this. I just love the fact that I can reach out to everybody and talk to, uh, I'm gonna give a shout out to Emilio Sparks. That's something he told me years ago, really early on. He's like, the thing that you did that you don't realize that you did.
01:40:55
Speaker
as you created a sense of community. When people come to your page, they kind of all feel like they know each other, they feel like they know you. We've all been introduced to other people through your page.
01:41:09
Speaker
You know, sometimes we don't, and it's a, you know, like there was already a sense of community, like I said, on Twitter, I feel like, and I think I was really big and hoping. I think there's a lot of other people involved, a lot of people that don't have pages no more, a lot of people I would shout out, that helped build that community on Instagram. I think I was one of those people that opened up that community. And I think.
01:41:29
Speaker
I started my show in the pandemic for the same reason. I want to talk to people I knew. I wanted to just like, you know, other people that had the followings or were doing stuff and, you know, were trying to grow. And then it
Casual Interviewing Style
01:41:40
Speaker
turned to a thing where I actually started reaching out to prominent wrestlers and people.
01:41:45
Speaker
but I started the same way you started this was just kind of just to have conversations so I need to casual conversations because I don't want to be like I'm a big fan of Chris Van Vliet but I think because he was a very professional and proper and he's like yeah that's yeah like he is the broadcast nothing wrong with that though you know he does this for a living and I love Renee Paquette and the thing I love about Renee Paquette and he was that she is very laid back but the difference between Renee Paquette and me is that
01:42:09
Speaker
99% of the time you could tell where a neighbor cat already has like a genuine real life friendship with people she's interviewing yeah exactly like this weird inside joke connection where i was like i want to bring something where it's like i'm one of you i'm not a professional broadcaster i don't have for the most part some of them i do but for the most part i don't have real life friendships with these people i don't know them to that extent
01:42:33
Speaker
But here I am interviewing them. And you know, we've seen so much of it now. Shout out to so many people. Shout out to muscle man Malcolm and missing people. There's so many people that are doing interviews now. And they're killing it. And again, these big names. And I think a lot of people started in the pandemic and they rolled with the punches and know some of them are lucky enough to live where there's a lot of conventions and things so they can go out to these conventions and get, I don't, there's zero conventions in Seattle or Vancouver Academy.
01:43:01
Speaker
But, you know, everyone's doing it and it's cool to see. And I think there's a lot of, in all industries, in all professions, in all whatever, a lot of jealousy when you see people succeed and grow. I love it, man.
01:43:18
Speaker
I think it's cool, man. I've seen some people do some really cool things. I knew when they first started, they were just kids. I mean, MJF. Yeah. This was like 19, 20, 20 years old or something. Like he's 27 now. He's like 21, 20 years old. I know him since before he took a bump. Yeah, I remember you posting. Mariah May and stardom right now. Killing it. She's killing it.
01:43:47
Speaker
I knew her since she was literally like 18, 19 years old. And the first conversation we had, she's like, I want to be a professional wrestler. And I was like, well, you should probably take advantage of the wrestling community because you're pretty and you're actually a wrestling fan. So like, this makes money sense. And following was one of the first people to rock the rest in classic t-shirts. I was always called the OG TWC girl. And then she started training in like 2018, 19, and she's just,
01:44:12
Speaker
now she's in stardom, she's winning title battle, she's building her own name, that's in a company that's not WWE, that's not AW, like you know who she is. And there's just so many of them, like I said, Daniel and Vikram had just started their careers. This is Emily J. Earl that I've known forever is now wrestling. And I feel like I've known the young little photo, Alexis, she's wrestling now. There's just so many of these people that I've known
01:44:35
Speaker
for so long, or I've seen them before the blow up, like the world's twins, I knew them before DaVinci was ever a thing. I went to the Bollywood Boys House to sing about this house to record a podcast with them before they even signed a WWE contract. I was supporting Jinder and still putting Jinder Mahal over before you got signed back and returned after the 2016 draft.
01:45:01
Speaker
It was just being genuinely and supporting people no matter where they are in their career and like seeing where people go and being happy for them. I think there's a lack of people. It's a competition. And yeah, there's always going to be a little bit of competition. Oh, yeah, of course. A little bit of, oh, I don't want to do this now because this person just didn't maybe I'll wait. But it's like, yeah, it's also just like, be happy for people, support each other and watch your community grow, man. I just think it's cool. And also be confident in yourself and you're very confident in your skills and you're very confident in what you can do. You don't really worry about
01:45:30
Speaker
what everybody else is doing, you know? It's definitely funny to learn when you actually have some level of confidence in yourself. It doesn't matter what anybody else is doing because
01:45:41
Speaker
You want to have your own audience and the people that rock with you too, you have your own style. And honestly, Chris and I have lead someone that told me that because one time I was like, Oh man, like I was going to interview someone, but then he just interviewed him. I'm like, Oh, I don't know, man. We're going to ask the same stuff. And he's like, why do you care? Like we have like, yeah, there's some crossover for sure, but we have different audiences. And I'm like, yeah. And you're not going to ask this. You're not necessarily going to ask the same things. Like, I mean,
01:46:04
Speaker
Especially like Yuki said, he's more professional, more straightforward and stuff like that. And you're more, you know, Okay. So what are the differences? I'm like, that's his stuff. I'm like, yeah, that's not my stuff. We are different. So it doesn't matter if we do the same interview, you know, like, cause like most browsers want to do all the interviews and like one media row run and like, you know,
01:46:21
Speaker
But yeah, all things like I said, I'm saying all this stuff. I'm saying all this stuff. I'm giving all this advice. I'm saying don't be jealous. Prop people up. It's not a competition. Know that you need this confidence. Let's start. I'm saying all this after doing all these things. Yeah. Feeling all the things everyone else is feeling or I'm just like, I've overcome these things, right? But if you're like, Oh, shut up. This guy's just talking. I felt probably everything you felt.
01:46:47
Speaker
All this stuff I'm saying, don't do it. Done it. And it wasn't beneficial to me and just don't, if you can avoid it. And I have younger cousins, I know I try to give them advice that time. I'm like, I don't need to make the whole mistakes and go through the whole things. And I get that. But if you can take a nugget of something from me, take it like, cause I'm telling you from experience of being where you've been and above it and under it and wherever, you know, like, none of it was easy. And.
01:47:15
Speaker
it's easier to look back at things and like be like, yeah, don't do this, don't do that. But like, I was jealous at times, I'm sure. And I was in a way that times I missed opportunities. And I like, you know what I mean? So I'm just saying like, if you, and I, I wasn't patient, but I went to do, obviously, since I realized it doesn't happen to me. And I just think, you know, I think of the, I think the biggest thing is just, you know, believe in yourself and be patient, man. Just start. Do the thing.
01:47:42
Speaker
The thing is, people always see the result and not the process. I hate that. I'm like, you know, everyone talks about The Rock being the biggest star in the world, the highest paid actor, you know, big movie star. I'm like, where
Acknowledging Effort and Process Behind Success
01:47:56
Speaker
was he from 2004 to 2016?
01:48:00
Speaker
making bad movies, nobody's barely watching him. It's not a name in Hollywood. Then he popped off, but people discredit those years because those don't matter. They're like, you guys that nobody knows about. I'm like, so you guys all know about his highs when he was the rock in WWE and then when he became this big highest paid Hollywood star by like 2016. You know what? But you guys don't realize that it took him like six, seven years to get there and he's the rock. Yeah. And overnight, things take time.
01:48:28
Speaker
Yeah. People look at like, oh, like there's so many, like, you know, some people they'll, they work hard and they're fortunate and things will happen to them younger in their careers. And some people it takes a little bit longer. Some people take them to the thirties, their forties, big moment, fifties, whatever. Sometimes it happens to people when they're 20 and 25. It just, you can't say, but the one thing you gotta do is just not give up and just keep trying. Keep trying, man.
01:48:57
Speaker
I'm talking about something like, at least I tried. Yeah, that's all you can really do is just, you know, you got to put forth the effort and actually go to do it. Cause if you don't, then you're never, you're just going to sit there and be like.
01:49:08
Speaker
Oh, what if I should have did that? And then what if I hate that? I don't want, what if I don't want to stop doing something because like I said, those many times I'm like, I think it's like, I'm going to go in the real estate direction. No more wrestling class. I'm going to, you know, I'm not making any money from this. I'm going to move on. This is, you know, being told it's a hobby and then getting them on, like, is it really just a hobby? Like, am I just wasting time? Like it's happened so many times. Yeah. But then I have to be like, I don't really want to do anything else.
01:49:38
Speaker
I stopped this. Am I going to be like, I was this close to doing something else in this industry, but then I decided to stop right when I was this close to go do something. I'm not really going to enjoy it. My heart's not in it. You know what I mean? Cause I mean, I'm doing something with this and my heart's in it. I'm with it. I want to do it. You know, trial and error fail ups downs. Like I'm going to, I want to do something here. So like, but the only thing I can keep doing is trying because I don't ever want to look back and be like,
01:50:09
Speaker
we could go like another hour but I just don't like the whole idea of like you know sometimes people in life will say like oh this person peaked there or this was their glory days oh when I was in my teenagers I had all this and that or when I was in my twenties I'm still there man I'm still rolling like I love I love my life as a teenager but what I'm doing now is better than I love my life my early twenties what I'm doing now is better than two like
01:50:35
Speaker
it just keeps getting better like in my mind for me personally and that's what matters I don't care I care about what the people I care about think about me sometimes but I don't care what other people think about me yeah you gotta do things for yourself happiness mental health that's all real yeah you know exactly life's not all butterflies and rainbows you're going to be depressed and sad and mad and all those things at times but for the most part I'm enjoying it you know I'm enjoying the ride yeah I'm doing what I do and the way I want to do it
01:51:04
Speaker
Why would you cap, like, why would you cap your, uh, like whatever your highs are? Like, look at, look at the, to bring it back to us and look at Rick full air. He's still right. I mean, he's even like bigger than he was as a wrestler. Like he's, you know, mainstream mainstream pop culture icon. Yeah. How crazy is that? 60s and 70s. Yeah. Oh, that's insane. Like, that's like, there's no, there's no cap on like.
01:51:33
Speaker
Greatness, if you want to call it that, like there's no cap on like what you're, as long as you're alive, you should be doing what you're doing. Like that's how it should be. You never know what you're influencing. You never know who's life you're making an impact on. You never know what you might say to someone that you think you're just
01:51:53
Speaker
spitting out rubbish and rambling. But it actually affects them. You know what I mean? You never know. Because it's happened to me. I've been on the other side where someone said something to me and it just stuck to me. And they were just probably thinking of something to say because they had to.
01:52:08
Speaker
Yeah. I'm just popping away on this podcast saying a whole bunch of stuff with me. You know, connect to somebody because like, there's always those times where I'm like, you can be just out in the street, you know, or in a store like waiting in line and a random person that's happened to be a lot will say something to me.
01:52:29
Speaker
Like I don't know the person. I have no clue what, you know, where they came from, what they're going through. They just, someone in line and they'll like, you'll be waiting in line. They'll just turn and say like some type of like, you know, profound like thing. And then they'll, you know, pay for this stuff and walk off. I'm like, and I always take it in. I'm like, do I, is that, was that a message from somewhere or is that, you know,
01:52:48
Speaker
Should I take that message and do something with it? Like that's, that's how, that's how I always take it anyway. So it doesn't, it doesn't matter what. So if you, if you think you're rambling or something's going to stick to somebody, someone's going to take whatever you say, you just got to, like in just life, generally, let's try to be a good person. That's, you know, it's hard to be that every day. I'm the ground. I'm not a morning person. I'm grumpy. I'll tell you the coffee needs some food. Like I'm telling you, like just, but for the most part, like you always just try your best to be a good person. I'm like,
01:53:18
Speaker
It just, and like, to your point, like I could be having a really shitty day and someone can like smile and make a joke somewhere to me. Like, well, that's like my Starbucks coffee barista or something. Yeah. Flip my entire mood over. I mean, I'm like, you idiot.
01:53:32
Speaker
Yeah, that's actually pretty funny. Well, they're compliment me about something or they'll bring something up. And it's like you, you never like, there's so much power that we hold with our words and our actions to even strangers that we don't know. And I think that's why, I mean, you just gotta, I had this lady that used to come into the bank all the time.
01:53:55
Speaker
She was turning to the bank all the time and she got really sick. She had terminal cancer and she came straight from the hospital and I was her teller because I was still a teller then before I got my own office and stuff and I just happened to get her. I just happened to be the teller to get her so she comes up to my calendar's place and she just happened to come back from the hospital and she tells me that she got terminal cancer like who am I?
01:54:17
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, we're just talking. And she's like, I don't know. I might go to Mexico to do this treatment. They won't do it here. It costs too much. And I was like, I don't know. I was like, no, I'm wishing the best. And I'm like, maybe you should just do it. You know what I mean? Like, what do you mean by terminal? You're going to die, die? And she's like, yeah. And then she comes back like a year later, and she's here. And she's like, no, thank you for being supportive. Like, you know, you're more than supportive, but I'm good. And I'm like, that's crazy.
01:54:49
Speaker
That's nuts. Like, I don't know you, you don't know me. And then there's like people that like, you know, if you work jobs, if anyone that's worked, like, you know, I've worked at Home Depot, I've worked at a phone thing, I've worked at multiple different banks, I've done this stuff with wrestling now. And there's people that have come in my life and gone out of my life. They were there for like, I feel if I always jokingly say like, I know that's like a negative thing, I'd be like, oh, main character syndrome. But like, I always jokingly say like,
01:55:13
Speaker
out of your life, like a TV show. And like, you got like guest appearances through certain seasons and stuff. Like, yeah, some people that have come through for some guest appearances that I don't really talk to that much anymore. I'm not that close to high school friends that I was like, see each other every day. I've hung out every weekend, stayed at my house that I'm not that close to anymore. But I'm like, I will never, ever forget what they meant to me and how they impacted my life and how I'm able to do everything I do now.
01:55:41
Speaker
with such crazy odd confidence because all these people accepted me for who I was all these years. Whether I liked wrestling too much and nobody else liked it, whether I walked on the hallway and they called Batista to get my attention, whether I get drunk with them on the weekend to talk about how the world is our oyster and we can do whatever we want. Like this is the craziest
Passion for Storytelling Across Media
01:56:02
Speaker
time in the world because it's like you literally could like
01:56:06
Speaker
become a writer like a writer that people believe in and you don't even need to get a journalism degree because like vlogs and vlogs like yeah I was like you know like you don't even need to broadcast so you can just like start a podcast and like become an interviewer like I used to say these things when I was like I don't even need a degree man I can do whatever I want
01:56:30
Speaker
and everyone just put up with my BS, and here I am, writing with my BS, doing a bunch of crazy stuff. That's insane. I kind of pretty much answered all the questions that I actually sent to you, but one of the ones that, I'm not sure if you answered it, you probably didn't. Besides wrestling, what is,
01:56:56
Speaker
What are your other like passions in life besides, you know, the wrestling classic page, you know, false finish, you know, besides the interviews, the podcasts, all that stuff. What, what else do you? I don't, I don't think I think if anyone watches my stories or even my personal page, if you follow that, like my stories, I,
01:57:17
Speaker
I love nature. I love being outside. I love reading books. I read books a lot when I was a kid. I read all the Lord of the Rings books when I was like in grade six before the movies came out. I still love reading books and now there's so many different ways to read books. I still love reading autobiographies and people's stories. I'll tell you if I was to put everything like what I'm really passionate about generally into like one
01:57:41
Speaker
one word is I think I really just love a good story because I realize like everything that I really like involves there being like a good, like I love movies, I love TV shows.
01:57:55
Speaker
I'm like, if I didn't have the rest in classic, I probably have the music classic because I love all from classic rock to hip hop, rap to Punjabi music to Bollywood music to classic Costco music to like country music. Like I have a playlist for everything and pop. Like I love music. I think a lot of songs tell great stories or you could take any song and you can implement it to your own story, the soundtrack life.
01:58:16
Speaker
sometimes i'll listen to a song and be like oh this would fit perfect in a tv show in this scene or a movie in this scene or i'll listen to a song and be like oh man this would be the greatest song for like a wrestling video package or you know like yeah i love the idea of like telling a story and something that's involving a story and getting sucked into like
01:58:33
Speaker
characters and stories and I think that's why I love wrestling so much, I love music so much, that's why I love movies and television so much. I love just talking to people and hearing their stories or being involved with people's stories like going out and hanging out with friends and family and just like go with whatever's happening and being spontaneous to create stories. I think at the end of the day
01:58:54
Speaker
When it's all said and done and someone passes away, they could be healthy, they could be unhealthy, they could be fit, they could be unfit. They could have the nicest car or have the shittiest car. They could work here or work there. They could be a millionaire or they could be broke.
01:59:10
Speaker
You'll remember those things about them, sure, but that's not what you really care about. You care about the stories. You care about, oh man, no time he did this. I remember the time we were all hanging out on this happen, or you remember how they impacted your life and the stories. That's what you were a member of a person.
01:59:25
Speaker
You know, like my dad just passed away this year. I remember him as my dad and what my relationship was with him. Watching, you know, him getting me into Bollywood movies and songs and Punjabi music and just like, you know, taking him with me for like, I just remember the time we, I don't give a, I don't know, I can't sit here and tell you like, my dad's bank account. He did this for a living. He had this car. I don't care, you know? And I think,
01:59:49
Speaker
Life is just a giant story. So you might as well make your story the best you can, because that's what people are going to remember. The stuff with them, how you impacted their life, and just your stories. You know why? Someone's going to be like, man, that, someone's going to be like, that guy's crazy. This guy liked wrestling so much he interviewed Stone Cold Steve Austin. Story. It's about the stories. And I think I just, I don't know if that answers your questions about hobbies and passions. Yeah. Like I consider him to be like, I want to watch his walks on the beach and
02:00:20
Speaker
in the gym and I like just chillin' and listen to music and stuff. Like, yeah, I like those things. Yeah, I was a big hockey fan growing up, but. Yeah. Well, anything that involves a good story that I can get sucked into like some drama and like just leave me with a good, good, I don't know, feeling or lesson, I'm with it, you know? Yeah. And let me, uh, I could kind of like circle it back to, to your like actual name because, um,
02:00:48
Speaker
As you mentioned, obviously, sorry for your loss, by the way, with your father passing. And my father passed back in 2009. And him, he was my wrestling friend, and my uncle as well. But he's from the South. So I grew up watching. They would get tapes of Mid-South wrestling. So I was more familiar with the Vaughn Ericks.
02:01:16
Speaker
Butch, JYD, Dusty, all that stuff. Before, you know, getting into, you know, the East Coast wrestling, obviously WWF. So I went backwards. You were with the territory. Yeah, I was a territory guy because my father is from, you know, born in Mississippi by way of Arkansas. But he, so his, his favorite wrestler back then was Junkyard Dog, JYD.
02:01:41
Speaker
who would, you know, you could argue it, you could say whatever you want, but back then, his popularity at the time would rival, or could rival Hulk Hogan at the time. You're the biggest star in Mid-South, you're right. Yeah, it'd be... The whole story about him getting blinded by Michael P.S. Hayes and the people... Yeah, the fans, the fans trying to kill... Where are the sunglasses and everything? Yeah, fans trying to kill Michael P.S. Hayes and everything.
02:02:08
Speaker
I'll tell you one more time. Yeah, so like him, you know, growing up on that and, you know, like I said, him rivaling that popularity and my father, like really, you know, that was his favorite wrestler at the time. The wrestling classic, he, you know, the person that won the wrestling classic tournament,
02:02:26
Speaker
was junkyard dog. That's crazy. How crazy is that? Kind of like bringing it full circle. And I just thought about it. That's a cool little story to be like, I enjoyed that. Like I enjoy things. I genuinely enjoy someone like give me coincidences or a story like
02:02:47
Speaker
I'm going to give you one last room. We should probably wrap this up because it's like two hours long. Oh yeah. No, he's going crazy. Like, uh, you bought up the junkyard dog and that's, and it reminded me of that story. But when, uh, drunker and dog got blinded and the fans actually had to stab PSA is a junkard. Yeah. Playing up the being blinded thing. You'd come to wear his sunglasses every week. He couldn't see you. Right. Like it was like a real deal thing. Right. So another thing that happened in 2020 and another reason why I forgot about this for a minute, another reason why I wasn't so like,
02:03:17
Speaker
excited to go back into doing interviews again was when I started the casual conversations thing and once again I was trying to just interview people that I knew that I had like a proper relationship with that were like I could reach out to and it wouldn't be like hard to like, hey, just come on here. And one of the people was Shad Gaspard, because I was just in California in February, 2020, right before the pandemic. And I saw Shad down there, went out with my
02:03:39
Speaker
with a couple of friends out there, and Shannon was at the bar too. I saw him in New York the year before that. Every time he saw me, he'd always treat me like he was an old friend, like he just really vibed with me. So when we did the first casual conversation, me and Shannon, which I think was like a second or third interview, he was like, dude, what's pandemic, one lockdown, all my stuff's on hold. He said, why don't we start a podcast? So we did another casual conversation.
02:04:02
Speaker
And then we did three more episodes of NFG radio. Cause when I asked them, like, what do you want to call it? Cause let's call it Fox given. I'm like, and then this tells you that I knew something was going to happen. My page. I'm like, I keep getting in trouble anyways. Like NFG radio. Cause I I'm so under the radar that I keep getting in trouble for like the dumbest thing. I said before I was getting in trouble for the dumbest things. And then, um, so let's call it NFG radio. And, um,
02:04:32
Speaker
So we went on there and we stood episodes and they're all on my YouTube channel. So guys, they're not monetized. If they are, let me know. Because I don't want them to be monetized. It's not like that. They're also available on audio form on wherever you listen to podcasts, energy radios. Check them out. They're honest. It's weird to me now because now looking back, it feels like a memoir. It feels like we literally talked about his entire life from a teenager
02:04:54
Speaker
being a bouncer, getting into wrestling, something with Mike Tyson. I think it was Mike Tyson's bouncer for something, security or something. I don't even know. Crazy story. Crazy stories. In the span of three episodes of Just as Regular podcast, because the first two were casual conversations, and we talked about a bunch of wrestling stuff for sure, but the last three episodes, one of them was literally just about his life.
02:05:18
Speaker
The last one we did, because we would always stay on after we ended up so like we'd still like be on here and talking to each other for like 30 minutes to an hour or whatever. And, and we got off the last episode we did together. And, you know, I started asking for advice about some stuff I wanted to do and he was giving me advice. And then somehow I don't know how we got there.
02:05:40
Speaker
He starts telling me this whole story about the junkyard dog being blinded in Memphis wrestling. And Michael, I think it was Michael P.S.A. as I might be wrong, but someone blinded junkyard dog. No, it was. It was. If you wanted to kill him and- Oh, yeah. Attacking him and this and that, it just reminded me of that right now.
02:05:56
Speaker
I was like that was one of the last conversations I had with Shad was we talked about a whole bunch of stuff but one of the last things we talked about was this whole junkyard dog angle and he was so excited telling me about it because he's still such a raspy fan he's like that was the coolest thing like you don't even know like everybody thought it was real and and I uh and then you know that he went out swimming that day and then the next day was missing and then etc etc but uh
02:06:23
Speaker
I think one of the things that also gave me a lot of confidence was Chad being like, when I said, let's start this, okay, do you want me to start your YouTube channel? He said, no, put it on yours. Do you want me to start your Instagram? No, let's promote through yours and mine. Wow. And he's like, I want to do this for you. He's like, you're like, there's a lot of people just like, you're really knowledgeable, plus you're also really respectful and professional and positive about the stuff. And he's like, I want to do something for you so you pop off.
02:06:50
Speaker
Now you'll never forget that. And unfortunately he passed away and it sucks. And, um, but you know, what do I remember now? Right. It's starting a podcast. Yo, this guy was in crime time. He was on WWE television. He did all these amazing angles. He was in movies. I don't remember any of that. That's cool. Great. I remember being a friend for me that tried to do something for me.
02:07:15
Speaker
but no good reason other than like he wanted to see me succeed because he believed in me. That's what I remember about Chad Gaspard. That's the story I remember. I
Impactful Relationships and Support
02:07:23
Speaker
remember the story about him telling me about the junkyard dog. That's what I remember about Chad Gaspard. And that goes back to what I was trying to say is that you can do all these amazing things and you can be all these amazing things. And that's great. I've been the wrestling classic to you for all these years, right? You'll probably remember me and you having this conversation more than anything else I ever did before.
02:07:45
Speaker
You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, and I think that's what people don't understand. Like you, everyone has the power to make an impact on someone. Me going to the West Romania hotel and Dakota Kai getting like happy to see me. That meant a lot to me. Natalia, tell me to come back the next day cause she didn't get the chance to talk to me and she really wanted to meet me. That meant a lot. Me meeting Kathy Kelly and her stopping me like, no, I appreciate you. Like we really appreciate what you do. That meant me walking in there and Rosenberg and Ryan sad and all these people that are doing all these cool things that I look up to.
02:08:15
Speaker
Yep. Remembering me on site without me even saying, hey, it's me. They're like, yo, Josh, what's up? I'm like, oh, I'm still that person. They know who I am. That means something to me. That's what I remember more than anything they do for their careers or whatever. I remember the way they made me feel because technically we're all a little selfish and that's just the truth of the matter.
02:08:38
Speaker
So stories leave people with good stories, leave an impact on people, be a good person. People don't forget it. You think they will well, but they won't trust me. Like you never, you never do. There was another point where I felt like, man, I have no direction. I don't know where I'm going with this stuff. And I'm sitting exactly where I'm sitting right now. And I was just chilling, watching, my and MJF is like, I was on this page called the wrestling class. Oh man. I remember I watched that.
02:09:07
Speaker
Oh, did he do because I didn't like he said shout out incoming. I didn't know he meant like on TV. Yeah, he said he said it. I remember seeing I was like, I was like, Holy, I was like, Holy shit. He just mentioned the rest of the class. I got in his promo. And then there was a handful of like, WWS is that I was like, dude, if we weren't so scripted, we shut you out all the time. Like just all those little comments and all those little things that someone, you know, will get some people like they might make fun of me, like being very like, like,
02:09:35
Speaker
getting still getting excited about like someone should give me a shout out of recognizing me like why do you get excited that's so marky like uh no because it means a lot and i want to remember what happens i don't ever want to forget someone like giving me attention when they don't have to like it means that's what it's about it's not about me like chasing cloud i want to show people it's me wanting to be like man like
02:09:57
Speaker
Yeah, you don't have to like, that's really nice. There's no expectation. Like I shouldn't be important to you, but you make me feel important. And I need people to know that you're cool enough to do that. You know? Yeah. You didn't call him and say, Hey.
02:10:11
Speaker
put me in your promo. Like a week before that, saying something a little sentimental, like, you know, I don't give it, I said some, said some crap, like, not crap. That's just me trying to downplay, but I said some stuff, like, uh, uh, you know, I was like, listen, I don't care how famous or popular. I mean, I was going to love for you. I'm like, you know, uh, just all the Macs I remember from the beginning, you know, and, uh,
02:10:33
Speaker
He's like, thanks, man. Shadow incoming. I don't know that man. I didn't know what he meant. I had no idea what he meant from that. I was like, then he gave me a shout out and a story about some promo that some clip I posted from an interview I did with him years ago in 2017. I was like, oh, maybe that was a shout out. He gave me a shout out and a story, whatever. I don't know how he was telling the story.
02:10:53
Speaker
in that promo like he's telling the story like oh I got bullied I went to school yeah football degree I don't want to be there I was like oh this is a true story because I know his that is a true story if anyone that doesn't didn't know I was questioning it like a lot of the promos or MJF gets serious and talks about his life I think 95% true
02:11:12
Speaker
Like they're not like, he might like exaggerate certain things and like spice it up a little bit here and there, but like they're not even like that. That promo was like 99% true. Like, I don't know if there's some things I don't know for sure. Like about like the younger, like getting bullied and getting nickel stone on them. I don't know if that exactly happened. Yeah.
02:11:31
Speaker
but they're going to college, the university thing with the football and they're going home to like, that's all true. He kind of told the same story again, where he told his dad, he wanted to do this. And my dad said, I'll give you, you know, university would have taken you four years. I'll give you four years to make it. It's all true. That's insane. So as he was telling that story, I was like, Oh, he could say it. Cause him looking at a
Recommending Matches for New Wrestling Fans
02:11:57
Speaker
picture on my page. So here's the thing.
02:11:59
Speaker
anyone that really wants to know. I don't really know if it was the CM Punk shaking hands with Daniel Bryan picture. He did like that on my page, he did comment on it, but then once again he was a follower of the page and liked and commented on a lot of things. Yeah. My knowledge, my memory, my memory of it was it was a Roddy Piper promo I posted that he saw on my page. And then he drove home and told his dad, he wanted to be arrested because he watched his poems like that's what I just felt like that's what I wanted to be doing. And it was this Roddy Piper promo.
02:12:26
Speaker
Obviously storyline purposes. He said it was this picture of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, shake hands, which also could be true. He could have seen, I could have posted those two things on the same day. I don't know. It could be true. It could have been a rowdy paper poll, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, shake hands, a picture of Brevella. Like, I don't know. I'll pull out the things that you saw that day, but that's, it was cool. That was another cool moment, but yeah.
02:12:55
Speaker
I always leave off with this before I sign off. I was asked a question before the end of the show. It's obviously wrestling related. So if you could pick one match for somebody that's on the fence about getting into professional wrestling, what would that match be? That's gonna pull them in and just make them a fan instantly right when they see it.
02:13:23
Speaker
That's tough. There's a lot of good wrestling matches, but if it's someone that's like on the fence and doesn't watch a lot, it wouldn't be a really good wrestling match. People think that's a, when I answer that, they're like, why? Cause I'm like, nobody cares about a really good wrestling match. I'm not going to put on Kenny Omega and O'Connor for someone that doesn't. That's super cool. Cause you like a regular person and be like, why am I watching this fake fight so hard? Um,
02:13:49
Speaker
And so, I mean, off the top of my head, I'm like, Undertaker, Mankind, Hell in the Cell, T.L. Swift, Mini X7, one that I actually love showing people. Here's a hidden gem one, because those are not very common, right? Those two are just named very common. And I mean, when I say I want to show, I wouldn't even show someone that's on the fence about wrestling. Sean Michaels, Undertaker from WrestleMania 25, because that's still like, I feel like you need to be a wrestling fan.
02:14:11
Speaker
to appreciate that man. I think so. Yeah. So I'm thinking like one match. I actually love showing people that is like so over the top and silly and crazy, but a lot of like memorable people are in it. Like people they saw like throughout their life or like seen generally as doesn't match on one of the early smack downs in September. Okay. And it's a very to live match and it's a rock and mankind versus the undertaker and the big show.
02:14:39
Speaker
And I love showing this match to people because I'm like, keep watching it. The longer you watch it, the more crazy it gets. There's that whole bump where like the big show throws the mankind from the stage and he bounces off into the, into the, like the thing. And that enough is like, people, then these are like hitting each other with shovels, like for real.
02:14:59
Speaker
Triple H gets involved, China gets involved, Kane gets involved, and then to top it off, when it's all said and done, an ambulance comes out to take, like, I think it was a big show into the ambulance, and then Triple H is trying to, like, load the big show into the ambulance or something, and then the storm cold pops out of the ambulance, beats the crap out of Triple H, throws them in the back of the ambulance, drives the ambulance to the back, jumps into a semi-truck, and crashes it into the ambulance. And this all happens in one match.
02:15:27
Speaker
I was gonna show someone that's never watched wrestling a match. I would show them that because it's just like they'd be like, what happens next? Did Triple H die? Is that man buried alive? And is mankind okay? And people know those names. They're like, people know The Rock. People know Stormcoat. People know Triple H. People know Kane and The Undertaker. So it's like, I love showing people that because it's so ridiculous.
02:15:56
Speaker
And I think that needs to be ridiculous. You would have to show them like a stadium stampede or something for them to like the stuff that hardcore wrestling fans might think or like wrestling purists might think is silly is the stuff you might have to show someone that's on the fence. Exactly. That's how you that's a gateway. That's how you get people in like mine. I always say WrestleMania eight. Yeah. Roddy Piper and Bret Hart.
02:16:18
Speaker
Banger, but there's a lot of emotion. That's that's fair. Yeah. So it's not like it's not like that. Like it's a, it's not a technical match because Ronnie Piper, if you know, not a technical wrestler. So it's brawling, it's technical. It's, it's literally, it's like you said, it's drama. It's everything. It's the highs, the lows. It's like a perfect like storm of, if you want it without the crazy zaniness of the, you know, shovels and buried alive stuff. But if you want to see the attitude, right?
02:16:43
Speaker
Yeah, if you want to. I've always loved and appreciated Savage was warrior of us. Savage wins. That's one of my favorite masters. A whole love story at the end. You know what I mean? Yeah. You have to be like, if you feel like the loser, this has to retire. Then you already have the drama there. Then it's like, oh, and now
02:17:06
Speaker
This guy's manager turns on this random woman that's in the crowd comes out and reunites with him and it's this big emotional moment. The warrior's looking for his powers in his hands. Savage literally had the match won, but decided to keep going for flying elbows for God knows what reason. The madness. So good. Over the top characters. That's what's going to sell people on wrestling. It's the over the...
02:17:33
Speaker
There was a point on my page, because that's what I enjoyed the most. I should be posting people's promos all the time. Yeah, I remember that. Why do you think my page was so popular? I was posting moments that people remembered. Beer trucks and this and that. I wasn't posting full-length matches until later, because that's what people remember the moment. I can share a Ric Flair promo.
02:17:57
Speaker
on my page and as a video and I can share clips or highlights from, you know, Kenny Omega versus Brian Danielson. That Ric Flair promo is going to get shared more because that's more universally understandable. Oh yeah. What's happening between Brian Danielson and Kenny Omega in that ring of the story of the telling. You got to
Making Content Universally Appealing
02:18:14
Speaker
kind of already be a wrestling fan to understand that. Yep.
02:18:17
Speaker
No, exactly. The guy is saying, limousine riding, jet flying, kiss stealing, wheeling, dealing with my shoes costs more than your house. Yep. Anyone's going to find that funny. Yeah, it's getting harder to get these gators down. That's a universal. The man's dropping elbows on his jacket, losing his mind. That's interesting.
02:18:37
Speaker
Like, you know, why does mantra man sound the way, why, where does he keep getting these, these cream packets from? I know, right? The cream, the cream rises to the top. Like you kept pulling them up. Where's the, where the hell are they? He's a magician. Yeah. Not just a magician. It's more universal than a good wrestling match. And I think if I was to give advice for the wrestling industry right now is give things that are more universal than just giving stuff that's catering to the fans that you're going to have regardless of the fact.
02:19:08
Speaker
Yep, exactly. I'm not the biggest fan of Orange Cassie's Tutter Rain, but I understand why the character is very popular. Yeah. Because it's universal. I might watch Orange Cassie and be like, what is this? And I might want to see more. He's interesting. That's all that matters. He has a gimmick that pulls you in.
02:19:31
Speaker
Oh man, this is great. Thank you for the, uh, two parts of something. This is, I mean, I might, I mean, I might not. So it's going to be like a, like a Joe Rogan asking, I have to sit here and listen to the whole two hours at 19 minutes. But no, man, this is not getting to four hours here. I know. Right. This is amazing. I get like, I could like talk forever. If you didn't know by now, I could just keep on going on and on. But thank you for having me. Thank you for trying to make me feel special.
02:20:00
Speaker
Like, it was important to be on here. If you go for me, it's like an upswing. You keep getting more analysis, you know? That's the plan. Where do you live? I live in out of Massachusetts. I'm telling you, if there's ever a wrestling convention there, go take a microphone.
02:20:21
Speaker
You'll get a bunch of no's, you get their promoters being like, I know you got to pay them, but you'll get one guy that will say yes like a godfather and then you get that interview. I could have actually went to one recently, about a month ago, and it was a chaotic wrestling it's a local.
02:20:39
Speaker
uh, wrestling organization around here. I could have gotten an interview, but I was, I was, I was, it was at a brewery. Everyone was drunk. I was drunk. No way. I was going to conduct an interview. Like if that opportunity comes up again, then you're like, Oh, maybe I can get an interview. Yeah. It just a little of those things. Once again, it was me showing up and just meeting people to make connections. And it was just, you know, keeping them and just asking, man. I learned,
02:21:09
Speaker
At some point you just gotta ask and sometimes someone will say yes. Sometimes they'll say yes and never happen. And sometimes they'll say yes and make it happen. Sometimes they'll say yes and they'll wait till they have something happening in their life, come back to you and be like, hey, do you wanna do it now? And I'm like, you just had something going on so you don't wanna do it, I get it. One thing I learned in retail is an operate. You just offer, you just keep on offering. You're gonna get a bunch of no's, you're gonna get a bunch of no's and then eventually someone's gonna say yes. I do a lot of advice, this thing and the other thing. Last
Dealing with Rejection and Persistence
02:21:37
Speaker
piece of advice I'm gonna give.
02:21:40
Speaker
And this one I'll say solo without saying everything else again. It's just like, one of the other things that I learned very, I learned a while ago, but it's a very, it's a very important thing, right? Like I talk about, I think everyone has an ego and sometimes we got our egos or whatnot, but I learned to not take things personally.
02:22:00
Speaker
rejection, if someone doesn't do something, if someone doesn't respond to you, if someone lives in your DM on scene. Yeah. No, don't take that personally, because you never know what someone's going through in their life, or if you have a bad day, or it might not look like it on social media, because social media is fake. You know, just you never know. So just don't take it personally. Sometimes it's not even about you. It could be. I'm not saying that.
02:22:26
Speaker
They might not like you, they might find you annoying, but you know, they might just not want to do it. But there's also a huge case that's not the case. Probably a larger case that's not the case. But sometimes the cases don't know who you are, they don't know enough about you. I just like, just don't take things personally. Do your best not to take things personally.
02:22:46
Speaker
Cause you know, sometimes it's business. Sometimes it's not even personal. Sometimes it's still in problems, you know, it's not, it's an actual thing. There's been many times where I thought someone was ignoring me or didn't want to talk to me. I even just told you the whole story earlier about like the social media guy that I thought didn't like me, but ended up helping me so many times. Yeah. Two years, you know, like, and I went like four or five years thinking this guy didn't like me cause he, cause he brushed me off and said, hit me up with a DM. And I thought like, oh, he doesn't want to talk to me. He's not going to respond to my DM.
02:23:15
Speaker
He actually probably meant hit me up with the F. I'm just an idiot. Yeah. He's being direct with you. He said, just do that. Yeah. Like he's like, I'm busy. Hit me up with the DM. I'll get back to you. He knew exactly, you know what I mean? So like, don't take things personally. Don't overthink things. I'm a notorious overthinker. I know it's harder to do than, you know, it's easier said than done, but, um, yeah, that's the last thing. Just don't take things personally.
Conclusion and Appreciation
02:23:38
Speaker
Probably. Words of wisdom and, uh, we'll end it there. Thank you.
02:23:44
Speaker
It's been a pleasure. Thank you for joining me on this wonderful audio journey. It's been a blast and I will talk to you guys soon. Talk to you all later.