Triple H

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Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to What Do You Want to Talk About? Triple H. Hey. Thank you. I will start by stating that we have wanted you on the show, probably since the beginning of the show, and you are incredibly busy as you're running all of this and doing all of this. So my producer, Off Camera, will say to me, I think we got him, and I will send a text that is an image I found on a Google search of a pig with wings. So I'm pretty excited. I'm just making you wait so it seems valuable when you do it with it. Well, I mean... Supply and demand thing, you know. That classic pro wrestler you make and wait. Exactly. But what better time than as we approach WrestleMania? Feels like the right time. Things happen for a reason, right? WrestleMania 42, Las Vegas. Did I get it right in 1988, Mr. Teenage New Hampshire? I think so. I don't know. I'm like the worst person with dates. You will see this over and over as we do this, and you'll bring up events and times and all that. Yes. I'll have no clue when they happen or anything. I remember them for the most part. But what year they happened or... The only thing I know about that time, like during that is I was 19. I just remember it was my last year of being able to compete in the Teen Division, right? Got it. And do something. And you know, contrary to what a lot of people believe at that point in time, you know, a lot of people will say, oh, he's a bodybuilder that got into wrestling. I wasn't. I was a kid that was going to the gym with the sole goal of becoming a pro wrestler somewhere in my mind. I fell in love with the training aspect of it. Competitive, the competitive aspect of it, bodybuilding, was just something to do for motivation. You know, to keep you wanting to get to that next level and always improve training-wise. It was a fun thing to do at the time. I enjoyed doing it, but it was never like a career thought or anything else, for sure. I wouldn't have been very good at it. Because you were, of course, I'd open this up by mentioning Teenage New Hampshire and bodybuilding. And this is something that's been brought up on the show. This is not the first question I thought I would ask, but I'm actually curious as you take. Wrestling has gone through stages where 70s, 80s, it's all shapes and sizes. It's everything. And then it's, you know, the golden 80s and the 90s where the physique was very principal, very important. Do you weigh in? Where do you feel in 2026, going into 2027? Is it as important as it was, the physique, the presence, the body? I feel like it's mixed depending on who you are as a performer and what you're bringing to the table. So, you know, I don't know, would Brock Lesnar be as frightening if he wasn't, if he didn't look like Brock Lesnar. But I don't think you have to have it. I don't think it has to be. I'm a bigger believer in the variety of things. Somebody doesn't have to be. There needs to be some semblance of believability to what we do, right? But I don't think that means you have to be a bodybuilder. I don't think it means you have to be, you know, lean where you can see your abs or, I think that works for some folks. I think that there's also room for the Gunthers. I'd love to see the Kamala shape and size. I'd love to see. I don't know. There's something for everybody across what we do and I don't know. You know, I talk about history a lot because we're both history buffs in the business and stuff, but Abdul the Butcher, Kamala, people like that were just as frightening to me as the road warriors were or anybody else that was jacked up and at a different level, right? So I'm a big believer in variety, sort of makes everything better. So when you get fed one thing for a while, after a while, you get tired of eating the same thing. So you want that variety. This made me think of when I was at OVW, Greg Valentine came to speak to us, which was funny. Yes. Because so often his advice was it almost became a bit. I remember me and punk sitting together laughing. His advice almost always was slow down. Like every match was, I think he could, I think he could slow down. Like, okay, he's going to say slow down. There's not one person here who's not going to get that. But then out of nowhere, he just went on this tangent and I never forgot it. He asked, he goes, you know why we work out guys? And everyone has the wrong answer. I have to look great to TV presentation. He goes, no, we just need to, we just need to look like we can beat up the marks. That was his whole take. And I thought, OK, yeah, that's fair. Like you just need the the fan to at least be. Oh, yeah, that guy's intimidating. Oh, yeah, that that's. And to some degree, that's fairly accurate, right? Yeah. You know, it's funny. There's a there's a moment in time when I remember. It's actually a funny story of Dan Severin. Yeah, who could kill everybody in the locker room, probably, right? Like for the most part at that time. Be sent look like it. You know what I mean? He looked like a construction guy or somebody that you might see down down the street and and just look like a regular dude. So it was tough for people to buy into the fact that he could stretch out the locker room and was kind of letting everybody do all this stuff. But there was a funny story once where he walked to the ring and he had a white T-shirt on. I was at just happened to be a gorilla. I think I made it was like next on raw. And he walks to the ring with his white T-shirt on. It's like a sweat stains on it and stuff. And he walks down there and the bell rings and Vince is like, Jesus, tell him to take the T-shirt off. Tells the tell referee referee tells him he goes to take the T-shirt off. Vince sees his physique and goes, Jesus, tell him to go get the T-shirt and put it back on. I know. Yeah. And you see the referee tell Dan, he's like, what's happening? He rolls out on the floor, gets T-shirt, puts it back on and then they start the match. Yeah, I, you know, there's a lot of reasons why you train in this day and age. Like we know a lot more about what keeps you healthy and everything else too. Right. So training is just as much a part of your longevity in this business as anything. So I think it's that. I think it's looking like you can beat up the marks. I think it's just having some semblance of believability to what you do and the role you're in. Yeah. You know, especially in my generation of stuff, you know, you needed a cane. You needed a taker. You needed an Austin. You needed a Shawn Michaels. You needed a X-Pac. You needed a McFauley. You know, you wanted to have all that variety of stuff and to make it all work and have that variety. I felt bad. I apologize to you the other day because after we had the blood bath on Smackdown, I didn't feel like getting on a commercial plane. So I asked if I could hop on with you. And you are always so nice. And everyone on that plane is always nice because they leave me the seat by you. And then I felt bad because while everyone else slept and rested, I had to ask you every question. And I love that stuff. I couldn't have a wrestling. I love it. You know, I don't get the opportunity very much. She's just sitting and both wrestling, you know, not like I used to. And usually when somebody's bullshitting wrestling, like you and I were just both sitting about wrestling. A lot of times when you if there's an agenda to the bullshit, if people are talking and we're all sitting in a room talking, there's an agenda to it or what they're trying to get or what it is for me to sit on a plane with you. I, you know, I'm still just the kid sitting on my couch. Yeah. Watching wrestling on a Saturday morning. You know, like I love this and I love every aspect of it. So sometimes it's a job. There's a lot of, there's a lot of work to it. But for the most part, when I have moments like that where we can just sit and I don't know, tell old stories and tell, tell our wrestling lies and to ourselves and all that. So it's just fun, man. It's fun. And I love that stuff. And it's part of, I think what guys have, maybe it's different now. I know in our generation and you, you were there of the, that constant travel being in the car every day, that was daily life. And that was part of when you sort of got to the end or when things started slowing down for you. That was the stuff you missed. Yeah. You know, that camaraderie of just sitting on the road talking, wrestling and talking about the business and, you know, well, it's almost more than camaraderie. I found in a sense that every time I come up here, one of the reasons, for example, we do the podcast here. And same thing when the bus pulls up to the arena, I turn on now it's on YouTube, everything, the vault. And I need wrestling to be on. I, I need it. Yeah. I need it around me. Yes. Sometimes I'm watching and I'm having fun. And, but almost always I'm watching and also picking something up. And a prime example, we're having this conversation. I had no idea the, you know, I knew about Kowalski. And you mentioned like Kowalski's robe that then you wore. I knew his, you know, actionable part of your career and who he was, but I didn't know Jack Lanza. That was the thing that I was, I'd never heard anything other than Jack Lanza wanted to in the show on time. And that was a big Jack Lanza thing. Flip the tie or all right, guys. You know, can you get it done in seven? And you were telling me just really smart, really helpful. Yeah. That really was, I don't know if you wanted to speak to that. I was just really, I was curious myself. I left thinking about that. So, you know, certain people that you come in that are around in your period of time that sort of you gravitate towards a gravitate towards you or you find their presence helpful or, you know, their point of view helpful to you. And I was, I say this all the time, I was so fortunate in that, you know, I got to sit under the learning tree of so many people. Vince Lanza, Pat, the smartest folks in the business, even Chief Arnie Skolin. Yeah. Right. Little bits and pieces that you took from everybody. Your dad, you know, Flare, Sean and so, so many different points of view. And it was so funny that as I came in, like when, when the clique was all together, Kevin and Scott and Sean and you learn so many different things, but so many of their pieces came, they'd say, oh, Pat taught me that. Oh, Lanza taught me that. Yeah. You know, Jack was one of the boys, but was your boss, but was so like, you know, one of the boys in like, what you said, like, you got to go 30 minutes tonight. Can you guys go to 25? Get us out of here five minutes earlier. Yeah. I got something to do in this town. Right. Like, you know, you just want to get out of the building. And but yet when you came back, he was in vest as invested as anybody else in the you know, that might be his thought beforehand, but afterwards, like, OK, you want to get out early, but now he'll sit with you for 30 minutes and analyze all the stuff you did and break it down in the wise and the house. And, you know, when we were at TV, when I first got asked to to sit in on production meetings and was was sort of participating with everybody else after, even if it wasn't my stuff at all, you know, the meeting would get done. Pat would come and find me immediately and be like, hey, get something to eat. I'll meet you up in the stands. Yeah. We'll start talking about the show. I'd get done with Pat after a little while. Pat could talk about it for so long, then he want to take a break. You want to go have a smoke? Pat would leave. I'd walk out of the stands. I'd lands it'd be waiting. Hey, come here. Let's go sit. And he'd want to talk about that stuff. And like, man, I was just so fortunate to sit. In that in that that learning tree. Yeah. You know, and again, Jack's one of those guys that I don't think it's a lot of credit in the business. Yeah. But was a really smart, really. Nuanced psychology guy work, work wise. Mm hmm. That I don't think he got credit for ever. And even from an agent standpoint, just if if I was to say who is my. The agent after Pat lands a for sure lands. The undisputed W.W. Championship title is mine and I don't plan on giving it up. Lucky for you, you can climb the ranks and earn your very own championship titles in W.W. Supercard. The new road to immortality features W.W. I.D. Evolve, NXT, Smackdown and Raw. As you challenge for titles each week, you'll gain and lose fans, depending on your performance, allowing you to advance in your W.W. Superstar career. The titles up for grabs correspond with the real W.W. Schedule like the real show. You need to prove that you are the best to stay on top of the leaderboard. Download Supercard, flash the QR code and claim my WrestleMania 42 card for free. So I know the promo where you the game becomes a thing. Yeah, the game and referring to you as the game. And you're referring to yourself. Because of what you're sharing with me now, it seems very obvious. Oh, well, that would make sense. He is young, active, but he's next to this person. He's on Pat's hip. He's talking to this person. He's actually making a suggestion. What would you do here? He's learning this. This is the way our information in wrestling, this is the way our lessons are taught. You don't always know you're in a learning lesson. The next year you've, that was interesting. I mean, just you mentioned Kowalski earlier. Yeah, not any rep, but most of the stuff Kowalski taught me. I didn't realize for 10 years, you know, 10 years later, I'd be repeating something in a different way and be like, well, that's what he meant. Like that's what when he would say that, that's what he meant. Like he couldn't he couldn't teach per se. He could tell you all the things that he was doing. Yeah. And, you know, people forget that Kowalski was in the 40s, 50s, 60s. One of the probably the first sort of global guys, you know, Japan, Australia, over in the U.S., over in Canada, over in Australia, over in Japan, like over in all these places where he became a name globally. Yeah. But I didn't realize all those lessons until much later. Sorry, I interrupted you. No, no. I feel like people, if they don't know, because time, you know, time moving so quickly, if they don't know who Killer Kowalski is, that's a really good one to look up, because what's a unique look about. Yeah. And at different phases in his career, completely different. So, and it's hard because if you look at his later career, which is most of the film, you're like, wait, the big lanky old thing with the bad two way. And the, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not seeing it. By the time film becomes a big thing, he's past his prime. He also became a vegetarian at some point in there and his body completely transformed. Yeah. But if you see pictures of him from like the 40s, even before he was Killer Kowalski, when he was Tarzan Kowalski, like, I think Walder was like six, seven, six, eight, something like that, maybe six, nine, which at the time is like a giant. Yeah. And jacked, like stories. And he's told me them himself, doing pullovers like three, 15, like this is, this is like just knowing him, like he's not certainly not a drug guys before that, and certainly wouldn't be anything like that. But look like if you see those pictures of him from back then, he looked like he could have been like a Mr. America or something like that at that time frame, when you look at those physiques, just ahead of the time and that. And then he increased the speed of the business when a lot of guys were just, I don't want to say it in a negative way. They were working holds. Yeah. Right. So the business was built on in and out of holds. And there was a lot of, you know, working holds in our parlance today. But, you know, a lot of people would say they were just laying around. You know, selling these holds. He didn't do that at all. He would, his pace was nonstop. He might maybe grab a hold for 10, 15 seconds. And then he was right up to in the next thing, bumping, bumping, bumping. When Harley first was talking to me about Walter, he, one of the stories he told me is he was like, you know, he said, sometimes I hated working with him because he just was nonstop. If we had to go an hour Broadway, he was like, you didn't stop for an hour straight. And I used to think like, God, this guy's got the most incredible gas tank ever. Yeah. Just doesn't slow down, you know, this is a different time in the business. Yeah. I want to, even now it's it kind of emboldens the question. And I was asking you about the game and the name and the, and you saying in this, it's the interview with Jim Ross, right? I wanted to ask, because I remember sometimes as if I'm growing up right in the age where prime example, you and rock are doing the latter match. I'm growing up right in the age where I am following the narrative exactly how it's supposed to be followed, but I don't realize that. Right. I don't realize I'm following the narrative. So that's the moment I started to go, oh, this guy. Yes. This is my this is my guy. And the latter match too, I remember and I had dad to help because he'd be behind me on the couch. Coach and Neil Longuoy. Like look at these two, but then also people like Sean. He did not understand why I liked Sean. He didn't, but he never, he never ruined my fun. Right. He always, he watched me watch that Iron Man match and he could tell I was not happy. And then Gorilla comes out, they're going to do a sudden death. And I could see he was like, thank God. Yeah. See this kid can't sit through another WrestleMania. Like, thank and he used me as a litmus test, but also with other people or when randomly, you know, Mel Mascaris or Dick would show up in Royal Rumble. He'd be like, Hey, so this is such a, so I'd have a leg up everyone else. But you mentioned the game and this promo, I always wanted to ask, did you know you cut this promo? Did you know that there was a change? Because it feels like that promo happens, at least from my viewing perspective, that it was a different ballgame for you. So I was already trying to find the change. Right. You know, you go through a sequence of. Events in your career that open up opportunities for change. I knew where I wanted to be and I knew where I was. And I knew there were certain changes that need to happen, but you kind of can't force those without them, without the right things taking place. I knew that promo with J.R. I knew it when we did it and I felt it and there were changes happening in the business. The line was pretty much off the cuff, pretty much. You know, I've seen people take credit for I wrote that script and I wrote that whatever there were no, there was nothing written at that time. Yeah, it was. Here's what J.R. is going to ask you these couple of questions. How are you going to answer them? Yeah. And if bad best you jotted down a couple of like maybe like a bullet points for yourself to have them in your head. And. I remember we did a take where I said the fucking game. Yeah. And then they were like, you know, that's OK. We're actually going to we're just going to show it from the other side. We don't see your mouth. It'll be all right. We'll beep it. And I was like, oh, shit. All right. OK. So if they think that's good enough, like there was something there. Yeah. When I really realized it was the following TV. Yeah. Because if you're. If you're in tune to it and you do something, and this is where like the live events to come into play for everybody that we don't have anymore and it's difficult, you try things and then you gauge that reaction and you move with the reaction. And if you're smart, you're you're sort of following the tide of where things are going. When when I came out that next TV and I just remember stepping on the stage and looking out over the crowd and seeing like, I don't know, like five or six signs with the game on it and thinking like, and we're on to something with that game thing. I got to jump on that like now, like I need to say it all the time. And J.R. and I had a conversation about it and he started to, you know, J.R. was I can't give him enough credit for being the soundtrack of our generation. But soundtrack of your generation. But also he's people think J.R. And they think Steve Austin all the time. Jim Ross is hatred for for you as the is legendary. Yes. Some of the commentary is just it's a man shouting into the microphone. You just have a bit. Yeah. How upset he is with you. And then it takes this turn to where when he's talking about you in a positive way, he's talking about, but he's still from the place where he was. He's I know what he would do for that championship. Yes. His way of connecting you with the WWE championship and the World Championship is how important it is. And again, tag team wrestling rules. If we don't, you know, if we care, they care. And just I wanted to ask, because now we're talking about the game. I think that's very important. And I looked for it for me. When I came back, I wanted to find Michael Cole right away. And basically say, what can I do? And I want, you know, you have a Jim Ross. OK, and Austin has a Jim Ross. And Dusty had a Gordon Sole. You know, like, how can I do that with you? Is it have I earned that even? And if I have, what do I need? And I remember thanking him after WrestleMania 40. And just that was there's so important. The soundtrack, yes, the announcer to the story. I think about Ali and Coach Sell. Yes, back in that day. Yeah, like part of his part of his part of Ali being able to show his charisma. Part of it was because Coach Sell was setting him up to show it and giving him that platform. So they're so important to each other. Yeah, people mention, you know, J.R.'s connection to Steve all the time because Steve could put J.R. over J.R. could put Steve over. There was like almost like this television friendship there. For me, it was the exact opposite. He was almost like J.R. was almost like my nemesis on commentary. And and it really, really, really. Got me over as being a heel. And even just he was so amazing with a cerebral assassin. Yeah, just made me seem different than everybody else. Because I had to approach things as smarter at first. I'm not going to be taken as tough as Steve. Yeah, right? Or as savvy as rock. So I have to have what is my different thing? My different things I'm I'm smarter about. I'm more conniving. I'm all those things. Right. I'm I'm getting in there on the backside. The cerebral assassin thing was was magic. So all that stuff. Yeah, you know, along the way, there's so many aspects to what we do that help get you in a position and keep you in a position that it's hard. You know, when you start talking about the people that influence your career, or were part of it or things like that, it's hard to go like, well, this person helped make me or that person because everybody does. Every little moment along the way does this business. You're so reliant on the other people. Yeah, you really are. And your your wife, she's going in the hall of fame. Yeah, you bring up your so reliant on other people. I learned a lesson from her just last night. I learned several, but the one I learned that I thought. Great, your teeth. Well, well. She walked into a room with I thought we'd already said hi to all these folks. Yeah, right. And I say hi to everybody. I'm still a wrestler. Hey, and she she said hi to everyone in the room and made that moment to hear the only one here. Yeah. And I that's real. Yeah. And I thought, oh, that's a funny thing is I don't even think she knows she does it. It's just who she is. But everyone in that room felt we're part of this now. Everyone in there. We are part of this this segment that they're doing, even if we're just sitting here quiet and listening to the process and all that. I just I thought that was I thought that was really unique. Again, a lesson. Do you know, because we're talking about announcers, when I was kid, I'd go to the WCW shows, you know, how they set at the stand, they were away from the ring. Yeah. I used to my first little job, one of the first jobs I had in wrestling was I used to be a runner and they had a whiteboard and they'd write what they wanted. And this is the perfect time for me to plug Wheatley American Body Kid, which I have my American mule as always. But Bobby Heenan only ever asked me for one thing. It's just orange juice. And it was always the funniest thing ever. I'd go like to catering and like get everyone out of my way. I'd get the orange juice and bring it back and he'd whatever have his moment, you know, but I always thought that was my first little was gig as I'd sit up there and that's awesome and help out. I wanted to be part of it. And I don't think my dad wanted to bring me around backstage unless I was going to be functionally active. Well, it was such also such a different business then like. You know that he he introduced me to you at Saturday night. He and I know that your crossover is real. So he introduced me to you and it's it's we're in the warehouse where it's serendipity everywhere. It's all meant to be where there's some sort of cosmic fate in the wrestling space. And literally whether he was you were brand new to him or whether he sincerely meant it. I remember him saying he introduced me to you. He said he's going to be a really big deal. Well, and I and I was scared. Because I he didn't smart me up. So I'd shake hands because he told me to shake hands and then just kind of OK. You know, like go away because I'd like to be 20 feet away watching everything at a distance. And remember this whole moment happens and it just it's funny that that moment happens and here we are sitting here. You know, we're going into WrestleMania. Do you consider WrestleMania 40 your your first full WrestleMania as the chief content officer as the I think so, though, you know, there was and again, this is where I'm terrible at times. But that it's not like one day here it's yours and everything else went away. Right. Sure. So many aspects to that of. You know, hey, Vince is stepping away. You're going to take this spot, but he's chiming in and where he's still meeting with me all the time and he's still, you know, directing traffic from the side. And there's no real. It's a weird no real clear moment for me. But I would consider it that yes. Would you have preferred there been a real clear moment or did you like the very I mean, I'm part of being there. Yeah, it's a trance transition. No, the only thing that. Is difficult in that transition. You're you're trying to. At the end of the day when people are like, yeah, but it's your decision, right? Yeah. Yeah, sort of. You know what I mean? Like your your yes. And you have to defend your position and you have to be able to sell that to people and explain it to people. If it's a little bit not your position or a little bit, well, why did this happen? And you don't want to say, well, because. You know, yeah, it's not wasn't totally my decision. Or and not because you don't want to seem like you don't have that power, but like you're. You have to position it that way. It's it's just such a complex. There's so many. Aspects to what we do, even just on a regular, general daily basis where you, you know, you're putting something out there and in in some manner, you're like, if in an ideal world, I would do this. We don't live in an ideal world, right? Live in a realistic world where I can't do that because of this and I can't do this here because, you know, it can be something as simple as these two people don't get along. Or this by then I know this person has an injury that I can't. And I can't put all that there or whatever, whatever the moment, the sequence, the scenario is the there's so many factors to all of it that are just, you know, I wish it was as simple as what people think when they just go, why don't they just do this? I wish it was that simple. I really do, you know. I don't know if you know, and I've probably shared it with you before, but one of the bigger, bigger honors of my career, sometimes you're something really special happens to you at TV and it's simple. It's this thing somebody said or something. And that was that meant so much yesterday. I'm in the garden and I've been in the garden where they're patting you down. They're patting you down at the door and asking for your credential and it's okay. And then yesterday I pull in the private entrance and the guy's holding the elevator says, elevator's open for you champ. Yeah, I could have done anything. Yeah, I could have. I felt like I floated into the elevator. It blew my mind, but something that Nick Khan said to me that when you, you know, fully started out in terms of where we're WrestleMania 40 is what we'll say here. He said that you and myself and him all entered this really at the same moment. Yep. And I felt, I really thought, damn, that's a big responsibility. Yeah. And you're lucky too. You know, I'm so lucky to have been in it, but I thought that's such a big responsibility. And it made me, I want to hold on to it, you know, and I want to ask you this because you're now in the position of the chief content officer, leadership, the creative, you're directing this, this movie, as my dad would say, we're making movies here and you're directing all these movies. It's multiple movies and TV series and TV series about TV series, all these things. And a TV series about making the TV series. I love making the TV series. I just told them. So yesterday I was, I told Stephanie, I said, well, the challenge with Unreal is to show them everything, but not. And she just went like, oh, oh, what? That's so hard. I'm like, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's a challenge. Show them everything, but not and then show them what you want to show them. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's no different than I think, I feel like when talent do interviews or they do podcasts, right? Yeah. Like, I see all the time, like five different versions of the same story all by whose point of view told that story. Oh, yeah. And what most people on the outside of our business don't get in clue, like especially the, the, the, and I'll use this term of the dirt she, guys, whatever it's like. Wrestlers, most of, yeah, not this generation, necessarily, but the ones before that, their entire life was built on just tell people what you want to tell them. And eventually it becomes a reality of the situation. So yeah, like, everybody's telling you what they want to hear. Yeah. And, and when the time is right, they'll say anything if it's going to get them the extra moment, if it's going to get them an extra nod, if it's going to make them seem more important, it will say anything. So you have the versions of the stories change over the years that you get 10 different versions because there were 10 people there. Yeah. And their point of view on it is all different. It's, it's so, it's such a unique. You, you mentioned this generation. I want to ask you, because I know working, working with you is, is different than working with any other boss management booker that I've worked with. But do you have a pet peeve about this, the, the talent? Is there a pet peeve you have? I don't, I don't. Is there something that just, that, that gets on, for example, is there something I do? No. No. You know, the outdressing everybody thing. No. No. It's, it's not a pet peeve. It's the, the, sometimes there's frustration of being able to have the perspective of looking back over a long career and so many people's careers and so many different talent and all different levels of success. And then wanting to say to a talent like, dude, this is meaningless. And you are arguing and wearing yourself out mentally and wearing yourself out emotionally over this point that is meaningless. Like literally by next Monday show, no one is going to think about this again. Yeah. And it's so many people, they get so caught up in the minutia of the little tiny things that don't really make the difference. And there are big things sometimes that go by the wayside, but it's like these little tiny moments and guys will like, you know, they used to be saying here's like, pick the hill you want to die on this, isn't it? Yeah. And if you're going to die on that hill, it's got to be worth it. And there's so many things sometimes where guys, it's not for me necessarily. I see them, there are moments in time when agents or other talent come up to me and they're like, I swear to God, if this person says this one more time today, I'm going to lose my mind. Yeah. Right. And I think that's because they're just so obsessed with this one little nugget of something that everybody else around them is like, who cares? Right? Yeah. That's the biggest thing for me. I don't want guys, because I see it in so many people, they're going to get to the end of what is a magnificent career in so many levels, creatively, successfully, you're, it's like the guy that played in the end, he makes it to the NBA. He plays in the NBA. He's a top player in the NBA. But as Dame doesn't get mentioned next to Michael Jordan's and it just eats him alive. And it's like, do that success that you have, like the misery that people create for themselves based around certain places, like what they don't get to or they're right there, but yet they have this unbelievable run. I think you might even been there at the time I heard Aaron one time talking, you know, these guys were putting them over and there was this conversation about mid card guys and he's never going to be champ and all this stuff and Aaron went off on this huge promo about like, I don't understand all of you. Like, said, you guys all see me as a big deal, right? And everybody's like, yeah, you're fucking Aaron Anderson. Yeah. I'm on the greatest of all time. But he said, I got a hall of fame or the career. I've got all this stuff, right? He said mid carder, nothing more ever. I never made a vent that a thing unless I was in the ring with flair. I never made a vent of the thing. If I was tagging with flair, I was in the main event. If I wasn't nothing, I was a mid carder. I was a guy there to get guys over on the way to getting up to the dusties and the flares and the people like that. I was a mid card guy. You guys see me as this unbelievable legend that you all listen to and all this stuff. But when it comes to your own careers and many of you have already surpassed the position I was ever in, you're miserable about it because you think that you haven't reached the success of other things. But yet I see myself as having this amazing career, fed my family. I got to do things I would have never done. All this stuff like incredibly successful. Like man, what a journey I've had. But if I used your metrics to measure it, I'm nothing. I never amounted to anything. They wasted my talents. They wasted my ability. They never gave me anything. They never did anything with me. You create your own bitterness. And that is the thing that is a pet peeve to me. Not because it bothers me, because it bothers me for them. There's so many talent that I go like, dude, you have so much going on. You're so in a position that there's a small handful of people on the planet or in that spot. And millions behind you that would cut off a limb to have that. And you're miserable every day because you're not considered the next guy. Now that's not me saying you shouldn't be ambitious to want to get to the next level. That's not me saying, but I don't believe the misery of I didn't get that makes you miserable for this. Be thrilled and excited about the stuff that you have and the proud of the accomplishments and proud of the things you've done and all that stuff. Yeah, always strive for more. I'll never tell a talent you're never going to get past the point you're at, ever. Because I don't know. And things can flip on a dime and you can be in that spot because the right things happen at the right time and you can be in that spot. But even then, that doesn't, it doesn't change the other things. And I get that feeling of wanting to walk in the door and have the elevator for a chance. I get that. But the, but the, I'm just telling you at the end of it, it's the journey along the way is more meaningful than the moment that you sort of get there and land on it. And that journey and the people and the moments and the time and you don't realize it until it's done. No one tells you it's the fucking good old days until later when you look back at it and go, man, that was a good old days. If somebody would tell you that, then you wouldn't think it. You know, we didn't know that to there. I mean, we kind of felt like something special was going on, but at the same point in time, you just, Thursday and I got to be in Toledo or whatever. You know what I mean? Like, it didn't, it didn't do the thing. And you were thrilled to get it and you were working your ass off. But I don't know. I just, I wish, I wish people could have that perspective because I think it lands you to bitterness and angry over. Yeah. Things that don't, man, you should just be thrilled at the, at what you accomplished in the career that you had. When I was preparing to come back to WWE at WrestleMania 38, I had some doubts and some nerves, but choosing to bet on myself was clearly one of the best decisions I have ever made. If you're starting a business, you might feel the same. So much work goes into this thing that you are not entirely sure will work out. That's why it's helpful to have a partner like Shopify by your side. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses all around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the United States from household names to brands just getting started. You can get started with your own design studio with hundreds of ready to use templates. Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand's style. Shopify is your commerce experts with world-class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond. It's time to turn those what ifs into... With Shopify today, sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash Cody. That's Shopify.com slash Cody. You mentioned something, the producers talking about the producers and if it's okay, I just wanted to shout them out because I've noticed and watched you work very differently with our producers than in the past and how the producers were. We got a great crew of producers and for people who don't know the producers or help agents help us tell the story, help us put this match together. Not only that, but help put the story and the match together, but then when you're in the ring doing it, help make sure that your vision is caught on camera and relayed to the world. You can have the greatest vision in the world, but if we don't show it and we don't capture it, then it doesn't happen. So they're sort of the link between it happening live and what people see. And the link to you in a sense of here's what the vision that Triple H has for this is the vision that Creative has for this. We need to accomplish this. Well, it's collab with yours. Let's see where we get that. How do we manifest it in a way that all those words sounded great, but now people see it and know what we're talking about. But Bobby Roode works really closely with you. And I I've really enjoyed working with Bobby Roode. Is there something you see in Bobby that there's more to or is it just a sponge? Is he someone the game like in a sense of learning and going? He's a sponge. It's funny when I very first, I didn't know Bobby at all. And he came in to NXT when we were there. And a couple of things I realized very quickly about him was one, he had an innate ability for this to I don't think he'd been taught a whole lot. Like from from not from the wrestling standpoint, he knew that the television standpoint and the psychology standpoint, right? I think because TNA was sort of a, hey, just go do it. And then that's what comes out. It was nobody did TV like here. Right. So guys would come in as AJ Styles said this to me after he'd been with us for like six months and he made a comment to me, pulled me aside. He was like, hey, mind if I give you something I noticed? He said, don't ever let anybody come here that didn't go through NXT first. I said, why, why you say that? He said, because man, if you told me that when I was coming here, I would have been like, got to your mind and know what I'm doing. And then I got here and I spent the first six months lying to myself and to everybody else thinking, well, I know what's going on. I was just trying to hang on to the tiger by the tail. I said, I didn't, I didn't get it. I couldn't see it. Like you guys were saying and doing stuff that I was like, what are they talking about? And then later I realized, oh man, that's great. I didn't, I'd never even heard that before. And, you know, he said, you guys shoot a movie, right? Like everybody else is just following wrestling. Yeah. Whatever's happened, they're following it on camera. Bobby was a guy that same thing. He had learned it just, he was just knew what he was doing and they were following it doing all this stuff. But when he came in, man, he was like a sponge. And I would see him picking everybody's brain and just, just for his own stuff. When his career started to wind up at that time, I remember thinking to myself, like when he wants to be done, yeah, taking bumps, like he's a good guy for this. I always start out with a, he's a grown up. That's a huge part of it. Yeah. I like, he's not lived. He's not a kid. Yeah. Just looking to get another paycheck, right? He understands the difference between business and being one of the boys and all that stuff. Grown up, but gets it and just has a great demeanor for it and is a sponge for it. And then the more I got to work with him, once he got, you know, he unfortunately had a neck injury that wasn't subsiding. He and I spoke about it. I said, why don't you come in and start learning to be an agent? And if the medical stuff clears up, yeah, great. It'll help your career if it doesn't, we'll start using it. But he jumped on it. And just very quickly, I started moving him up the line and then having a conversation with Michael about mentor him, you know, like Michael Hayes. Had a birthday yesterday. Free bird. Had a birthday. Yes. Which had a, had a birthday on Sunday. He told me about many times because he was very pissed off at the fact that he, with all the TSA issues that he was going to, he can't stand in line that long. And he's not sitting in a wheelchair. I'm like, my, I can't change TSA, right? So he goes to the airport three hours early and then sends me a note, pissed off that there was no line. And now he got through immediately and now he's stuck at the airport with three hours with nothing to do. Happy fucking birthday. The, you know, the plot thickens on his birthday. I texted him while he was at the airport. Hey, I got a jet. Don't feel like doing TSA. And he kind of, this is when you tell me, like, Hey, for that reason, if you'd have told them that it would have been phenomenal. Even if you didn't have a jet and you just called them out, I got a jet at that point would have been the best. So I got to tell them, I'm going to tell them, I'm going to give them a lot more like advanced notice on those things. You know, you were, So to go back to Michael, because if Pat was the be all end all finished guy, you know, psychology wise in ring guy of that generation, Michael is this generation's Pat. Yeah. And as Pat was winding down, Michael was very quickly becoming. So even at the end of my career, taker's career, Sean's career, like Michael was, Michael was the guy and still is the guy. Put all his Michael hazes, I'm just aside. And I often think if he hadn't done all the stuff he'd done to him throughout the 70s and 80s, man, he'd be a certified genius. Because clearly he's killed a lot of brain cells and he's still at that level. But yeah, I can't say enough about how good Michael is at that. And now Bobby is sort of to me picking up that he's sort of running side by side with Michael right there and learning from him at an incredible rate, much like Michael did from Pat. Right. Yeah. That's the fun aspect of our business. Michael's one of the guys that I try really hard to impress. And I don't think I've got there yet. And now at this juncture, because he's been part of some major moments, at this point, I kind of have to always, hey, Michael, what's wrong here? Like what can I do? Because he is one of the certified super geniuses that you have that surround you. You have Mr. Heyman and you have Michael Hayes and you have Bruce and you have these people who have done it at the level and actually seen that play before and how it works. And can feel the crowd psychology. And what if we did this also great what if guys, which is like the road of what if is sometimes very hmm. What if we did that? But Michael's one that I actually, I actually look forward to his enthusiastic outlook on what I did because he's, I know he's honest. Yeah. Well, that's the thing with him too. You're going to get the, that was awesome. Or you're going to get the, I would have done this different. Everybody else can be coming back. And I think you have to have that. Yes. To some degree. Yeah. Nobody wants to come back and just this or the, you know, I get, well, what's what, because we're in the stage where I feel like when records started being broken. And again, WrestleMania 40, WrestleMania 41, these are stadium record gates, massive, the revenue report, TKO just put out this. These numbers are wild. I think explaining that to my mother, it just, it sounds like I'm just lying. Yeah. I know the numbers are so wonderful, but with that in mind and with the thing, the first thing I think is okay. Okay. Great. What do we do? So what do we do next? Yeah. We come up against your own records. Yeah. And then, you know, you're like, oh man, like how do you, how do you surpass that? How do you top that? How do you get it to that next level? And it's difficult. And the other aspect of that too is this is what people don't. So talent come back and they're immediately like, you know, looking for that thing. And sometimes you don't want to kick them. Yeah. In that mug, talent come back to like, that was pretty good. It was pretty good. Here's how we could have made it better. You don't want to say that in the moment where the guy like just hit the home run and you're like, could have hit it further. Yeah. You know what I mean? Where it just like, take all the wind out of somebody's sails. And I think about our business a lot about like it's, you'll see this, your kids get older. Like your kid can be playing basketball and stinking the joint out. Yeah. Right. And no confidence, head downs, kind of like running through the motions, playing basketball, whatever. And then all of a sudden they throw a shot up and it goes in. Everything about them changes. Yeah. They're standing taller. All of a sudden they're Michael Jordan. They're running down the court. They're confidence levels up. Now they steal the ball. Now they're like, right. Like confidence is such a motivating factor for people mentally. Confidence in that, that capitalizing on that success and knowing that you're good, knowing all these things. And when you start to have a decline, that's why in baseball it's hard to get out of a hitting slump. It's also hard to derail a guy that's on fire. Yeah. Right. And there's these mental moments. So you don't want to take that out of talent. Yeah. You don't want to, you want to put them over. You want to make sure that they know when things were good. You just want to make them know when things were bad, but maybe sometimes not in the exact moment that you're like, you know, just calm over. Like you just went out there and did really well and then you come over like, God damn, what the fuck are you doing? You know, like it's tough. It's a tough thing. So having that sort of middle of the road approach and going back to guys later or, you know, even for me sometimes, like if I say it just because of the spot, it's a different weight than if. So sometimes I'll be like, tell them later when everything is calm, talk to them about this. Yeah. Right. And then they'll come back to me a day later to talk to me about or something, but like it's an easier way to do it than like, if I thought that was good and you hated it. I didn't hate it. I just wanted to change, but it's taken differently, you know. I have a joke with the writers, which is more sports confusion for me because I say quarterback, but then my joke is baseball related. Yeah. It's always, they're always like, yeah, that was a home run. I always tell them, yeah, it's double. It's a triple. We're not going to hit the home run. I don't like the conversations that are so quick where it's like, it was great. It was done and it's over. No, especially with the lack of live events in a sense of this is my moment. I got, I want to teach me something and we can learn stuff in the ring. You can learn stuff. I need that all day long. It's a funny thing. Some time down are coming back looking. You said it yesterday. Like, do we really need somebody to tell me that was good? I did. Right. Like did I need that? Or I fucking was out there. I knew. Yeah. I was doing, I know when it stinks. Yeah. I know when it's pretty good. I know when it's really good. I know when it was phenomenal. Yeah. I might be asking about things I couldn't see. Right. Like, hey, how did that come across? Yeah. Because I can't see the camera cuts. I can't see. Sure. Yeah. The moments, right? But sort of, you know, you know what I mean? For that moment, I wanted to make it because there was a lot of, are you sure? Yeah. Yeah. Because it felt 100% real and we heard him. Yeah. And we're still, and we're, I didn't want the, my dancing partner to, there's a lot of critics and again, I love hypercritical. Yeah. Great. But it was funny. I was basically saying something you say to me or actually Sean said to me much differently. When I came back from something and asked, was it great? And he went into me a little bit, I mean, you're a bullshit. You know, we, you were out there. No. You know, because it went awesome. Thankfully he was talking, I was like, oh, got it. Fair enough. I won't ask in those settings again. Well. He was, he was 100% right. He just, sometimes talent, they just, they want you to tell them. That was great. Yeah. Right. Like I know, I know it was great. Everybody else said it was great. I want to hear it from you. Yeah. Tell me that was great. It's important. Please. Yeah. It's important. Yeah. There's times when for me, sometimes you guys do something. I'm like stuck in the next thing, trying to make sure that doesn't fall apart. Cause anytime I walk away, there's something else going on. Yeah. There's some trying to do that. And then I realized like, Hey, where'd they go? Oh, they left. They're gone. Fuck. All right. Now if I go chasing, it's that's, that's, I, I now I'm out of pocket for longer. Or if I ask him to come back now, they're like, yes, let's come back. Well, it must have been bad. You know, so it, right? It, it's a, sometimes a tough scenario, but when stuff is really good, I try to get up and come over there either really good or really bad. If I come up and come over to you, I'm like, feel like that's my, that's my tell. Otherwise I'm like in a pretty good place with everything, you know? Spring is a season of change, but it doesn't have to throw off your foundation. Reset with one simple daily habit that supports your energy, gut and immune health. 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Go to drinkag1.com slash Cody to get an AG one flavor sampler. We'll also throw in a bottle of vitamin D three plus K two for free in your AG one welcome kit with your first AG one subscription order. That's a $72 value yours free only while supplies last. Go to drinkag1.com slash Cody. We talked about Bobby and being close to you and the sponge and learning. Looking at the field now, it's a whole new ball game for WWE in terms of you and the chief content role leading and directing the ship. Do you see anyone in our current, you know, and all across the board producers, I mean that HQ people don't realize the amount of talent Adam Panucci is just sitting in a room, genius talent. There's such talented people just on every floor around there. Do you see anyone that you think will help kind of lead the company? Because I've heard Bruce say it before when Bruce is not there or when Heyman is no longer around and when Michael goes and we talked about Bobby. Do you see others in our current space? I do. Yeah. I do. There's a certain passion for the business that begins to, I think you begin to see it shift and the way that people look at it differently. Yeah. Where it's not just about me and what I do next. It's about the product and what the product does next and the questions that are asked and the things that are asked. You know, I saw that with Bobby. Yeah. Right. It was a different level of that. I see that in the now and it's an interesting things like AJ Styles just retired. Yeah. So towards at the end, AJ was like, you know, I don't want to just be done with the business. I want to be done wrestling. Yeah. And I don't think I'm betraying a confidence here, but even in his last match, he was telling me like, I so know I'm done because like I was out there in that last match thinking like, let's just get over with. I just want to get to the end. Oh, wow. Yeah. But he wants to participate in the business, right? But being an agent or a producer is a different world. Being in what we do, there's different fits for different people. Yeah. AJ came in, he sat in on some creative meetings. He sat in on some, you know, production meetings. And I think he realized like the writing things now for me, the producer thing. I don't think is for me. What I really like is getting to these young kids and spotting talent and then trying to help, you know, fan the flames of the little spark that's there and try to make them into something more the developmental side of it. So great. Let's utilize him in that and grab those talents there. There are some guys that just sort of get done the business and just want to be done with it. They don't want to be on the road. They don't want to be the hassle. They don't want to all the other stuff. But I do see a lot of, you know, and it's your show and I'm not trying to blow smoke up your ass, but like, Oh, no, we're good with that. Go ahead. Blow away. Not like you. You're one of those guys that I believe as you come to the end of your career, it behooves you start to pay attention to the other things. I remember very early when Vince, I don't, I, and again, I've never asked him this, but I don't know why. I guess he just, just if he creatively saw like, he's got a little something there and like, let's cultivate that. Okay. Come to the production meetings and we'll start talking about other things. And then I know, I know that he told Pat mentor him, help him, teach him. He tells the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the consultant the But how many actors become great directors or do other things in in Hollywood or yeah, right? How many great players make great coaches in sports like Nick talks to me about that all time I'm not the biggest sports guy, but Nick talks to me about it all time a great player Struggled to become great coaches because they can't understand why people just can't do it great the way they did it Yep, they just don't get it. Let's just do this, you know like it's just not that simple for everybody, right? You have to be able to get that greatness out of them in a different way Once you realize that and then you begin to become fascinated with that if if guys will cultivate that And want to know and the other stuff and you've asked me about it numerous times Which is why I say like I know you're going to be good at because you've asked me that numerous times about how can I do this? How can I do that? I? Also know the difficulties of being in the position you're in as a talent and then trying to do the other things which Is really difficult to do and not have it change everybody's perception of you But there was a moment even for taker with me where when you know now he's he's in Mexico working on AAA and Doing extremely well with it But there's a moment where he was talking to me about it and saying like Man I used to think seeing you do all that stuff and why man he spends all that time And he doesn't have to do any he's like in there and it's hours and time and frustration and all this stuff And it's really the end of the day mostly making most everybody ate him or you know to have a different opinion of him It's really like a detriment to him in some manner But he's just still doing it now. I look at and go I wish I'd have done that Yeah, because you have this skill set now to where you're still So ingrained and I say it a bunch like this end of my career is almost more gratifying to me than the other end of my career Learning that stuff this stuff this all seems like it goes on forever Yeah, it doesn't and that's the good old days thing right the no tells you so good old days until after they were over Then you realize fuck that shit was great. I wish I had paid more attention to it then But it's almost like while you're doing it. You've got to be preparing for the other side because yeah Very quickly. There's this moment where you're like Man the the top of it passed me by now I'm on the downswing and I'm a legend or whatever that is sure, but I'm here, but I'm you know, I'm not I'm not you're landing to go the next level in the plane. Yeah, yeah, and in the play yeah, and then what happens when the plane lands You you want to try to explore some of that skill set doesn't mean you have to activate it Just means you have to explore that so you know what it is so that when the time comes and for those guys like I Try to Put things in their head of like how they could do other things on the other side as sure as the business moves on But there are a lot of guys that are so passionate about this and it's in a different way you Punk Seth yeah, right that I see this When that day comes when you're like I don't want to take another bump and I don't want to yeah I don't want to be in that spot anymore great You know how to help other folks get there and do it and not everybody's gonna be amazing at it But there's a spot in this it's a big big wheel that keeps on going Yeah, and you want to be a part of that wheel because I think the worst thing in the world can be not for everybody But can be what would be for me if one day you just said Right you're done and then you just go home and you're like Yeah Like now what do I do right? Yeah, I don't I don't know what other skill set you have yeah, right and So it's there. It's just Cultivating it in guys and having them you can't make somebody do it though They have to yeah to want to step up and take it to the next place. It's wild to think about oh you're done Because my my my acting coach I remember him saying he was describing You know the the craft in terms of acting and whatnot But a lot of people were there for the of course want to be famous want to get a big movie that all makes sense But what he was saying is you'll do much better if this is your life's work You'll do much better if this is the whole thing the whole enchilada This is the entire thing that commercial is taken just as seriously as the big get that you're trying to get This is your life's work. You've learned from every every step along the way and just I couldn't imagine it I go home for two days and It's you've received some of my texts Yeah, but you think about it those pre-work out text you know what Joe me nuts when I first came up here Trying to find your way right like yeah find the people that you want to hang out with how you know Some people think like how I landed with the click right like yeah because I'd rode with all these other people and What I found out really quickly is most of them want to get in the car after the show's over and never talk about wrestling Sure, don't mention wrestling don't talk about the show don't talk about anything about it They just want to drive to the next town train whatever do do whatever they're gonna do and there's no conversation of it And I hated it So I wanted to talk about so I wanted to think about yeah, I wanted to I'd watch every single You know when when their match was over they'd be like hey, let's get out of here like no hold on this three more matches I want to watch the whole show I want to I was going to the shows that I wasn't booked on because I just wanted to see what was going on and Take all of it in It drove me nuts when people didn't want to engage in it when I got when the first trip I took with Kev Scott kid Take the hospital excursions out of the equation and all that stuff But all we did was talk about wrestling and Scott would be the first guy to talk about it But he would say soon. Can we just not talk about wrestling tonight one night? Can we just not talk about it? Great, but before that did anybody notice in the third match That's all we talked about the whole way right like I Immediately in the car with those guys take like I said take all that other side stuff and put it aside It was just as moment where I was like dude, that's what I want to do. Yeah, I want to sit in the car and just Dissect this stuff right wrong and different, but like that's I want to be immersed Yeah, in it. I almost stole something from fellow your your fellow click member Kevin Nash The other day just because I've always heard every now and then he'd come back and say follow that or just that was that was a big You know Like on a not great say Confident about so terrible that you came back like fall that Yeah, good luck with that. Yeah, that was You know talk about good old days and all that stuff everybody had a perspective Sean had the workers perspective Kid had like this Indie worker perspective. Yeah, Kev was like Kev thought of everything in like movie scenes Scott was like the basics Scott would hit you with this like Let me get this straight and then he would say something so profound simple, but like profound that you were like Wow, yeah, that makes no sense or like holy shit like the levels of people's In that in that car was just again talk about learning tree Right Vince Pat yeah lands a all those guys in that car then you know my friendship with regal and Yeah, just all these different things all makes it. Yeah, what it is I love a regal post segment just because he'll talk to you for quite some time But yeah, every I always tell you a man He said something though that I can never do that now. I know I won't do that again. Yeah, because it was so simple Yeah, but needed it In WWE every road leads to one place WrestleMania and every journey starts on the road to gold now that journey comes to life with WrestleMania Road to Gold only at fanatics casino the game features 20 WWE superstars from Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley to Seth Rollins John Cena and me get your money in the bank or When the Royal Rumble and elimination chamber with bonuses every step of the way every award brings you closer to the biggest stage There is this is WrestleMania Road to Gold and it only lives at fanatics casino must be 21 and over gambling problem call 1-800 gambler not available in all states see fanatics casino app I Know we have had you for extremely long. Are you okay hanging out for a few more minutes? You sure? Okay, awesome What do you want to talk about we? Myself Wheatley American vodka we like to consider ourselves the American dream team and I ask everyone who comes on the show Who makes up your dream team and often I have to throw a qualifier in there because at the first it was all over the place Animals sports teams you can really do anything with this, but also if it becomes Difficult to lock down then sometimes they just say hey your war games team your survivors you what is your dream team? Who's going into this battle with you? What I guess what is the battle just life well, I'd say because you get you brought it up multiple times in a way that I Think everyone in here really thought then the the good old days in our case we're going into WrestleMania 42 and These these are good days. Yeah, this is a this is an unbelievable time So in in this moment who's coming with who is who is there with you? Leading leading leading this event leading our event Well, I mean for God that's a long list. Yeah people, you know And it's funny because as as you even say it throughout this entire interview like you what you lead this you lead that It's such a big team. Yeah, and I don't even like that term sometimes with the leader It's yeah, it's the responsibility of it at the end of the day You have to make the final call when it's a you're the tiebreaker Whatever that is you have to set that final guidance But it's such a team and there's so much nuance to making the team even even to the point of you know You want to encourage people to throw ideas out all the time so you don't want to ever Ever not take You know like if they're throwing out ten ideas you want to take at least a couple of them Otherwise you're gonna just stop throwing stuff out there, right? That's an important lesson that I learned along the way too There's a moment when I look back there was this Moment where a bunch of us were in a room and Vince was there famous meeting Indianapolis and Vince took out a roster and was like Who leaves who stays and This is the point in time when I was kind of newish right like yeah, I didn't feel qualified to even be making that thing But I remember there was some people on there that their names came up I remember one in particular in his Bam Bam Bigelow. Yeah, right and the Bam Bam hated the clique. I think I Don't know that anybody had an issue with him per se, but he's just for whatever reason sure hey Yeah, and his name came up and we had all written down our stuff on paper and given him to Vince and he's like You guys all unanimously want him here we're like hey fucking really good Yeah, but he hates you guys. So what like he's good though one of my team. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, I want them on the team Yeah, like it's not about you don't like us or it's not about it's like he's fucking good So he should be here. There's some other guys on there that we like a lot. I like him as a person Yeah, that's a hard one. Yeah, but yeah, I like him as a person, but Come or go doesn't matter. You know those are tough decisions to make so When you say who do I want to my tea got that list is long. Yeah, it's a long list of people first and foremost Nick you know like I Smartest business guy I've ever been around. Yeah, just just Yeah, like I I couldn't I Couldn't imagine the last few years of trying to do this without doing it with him. Yeah Even when you when you're unsure when you're Not positive like that that I Reassuring guidance that hey you want to relook at that like where you're like, oh You really look at it. You're like, oh, yeah, that's yeah Right, right, right. There's just he's just so good and he's such a great businessman But also such a fan of what we do and he has the the ability to look at it from an outsider's perspective Right, so but man, there's so much talent in this whether it's producers agents people at the office people And I just I wouldn't even want to make a list because the list would be so long. Yeah Of people that I would want here and to be honest it really comes down to desire to do this This is so busy. You know how hard it is. Yeah, you you have to want it. You can't be here Fill in space. Yeah, you can't just be phoning it in you got to be all in and and those are the people You want the foxhole with you? Yeah You want a blind rank you good with a blind ranking? Yeah, this is my first we've never done a blind right? All right. This is a hell of a moment. All right. I choose to be controversial Think we try to keep everything not controversial on this but then the one thing you like I did say that okay We're gonna blind rank you have some of the most iconic WrestleMania entrances of all We're gonna blind rank these we have ten all right. This is a random order blind rank and where do you think? WrestleMania 30 you versus Daniel Bryan on the ranking. That's you the throne Charlotte and Alexa a part of that there it is right there. Yeah, where's that one at? It was like one or two. Yeah It's because the imagery of it was so cool the timing of it like this Authoritarian figure against the sort of the guy bucking the system. Yeah, B plus player plus the Charlotte Sasha Alexa like When this idea came up to do this entrance, I was like, oh can they you know, can I use them to do this entrance? Because yeah, but I wanted them to stand on that stage. I remember saying it to him right before we walked out there like When you walk out there like this will probably the last time you ever get to walk out there without the responsibility You're about to go have to do what we do But no this is coming your way and just man take that all in and feel it. Yeah, I love that Okay, so that's one or two. I'll put that at two that's a two WrestleMania 25 that's you versus Randy Orton. I remember you're throwing the sledge hammer through the media There it is put that down around eight or so because I almost slipped and killed myself when I threw the hammer Yeah, it was all wet on the floor and I was sure that I looked like you know Like one of those cartoon scenes where I was like and caught myself and didn't fall like thank God I didn't fall but like yeah, I bet you that looked ridiculous. Okay, so we've got that at eight WrestleMania 33 you versus Seth Rollins. That is the the bike ride With the police escort and then of course that up there at three. That's a three. Yeah, yeah, step with me The the police escort was a yeah was just cool cool visual entrance. Yeah Yeah, and then you did the thing where you basically just put it in neutral like you're not actually or were you driving it on the way down? Yeah, I was driving it all the way down There's motor vehicles and yeah, no, it's tricky those those boss Haas Yeah, try to also don't have gears like a motorcycle. Okay. They have like two speeds. It's an automatic nice So that you sort of got to put it in gear. Okay, but you got to be careful with it because it's Like crazy. So that's that's our number three. Yeah, okay. Oh WrestleMania 12 the ultimate warrior and this is your first WrestleMania So I'll put that like I'll put that like a seven seven. Yeah, okay It's not the coolest of entrance entrances of all time, but it's my first WrestleMania And I'm about to walk out there with the ultimate warrior. Yeah, which you know I know a lot of people talk about that match over time and all that but like Vince coming to me at that point in my career to say hey the ultimate warrior is gonna come back But he's not gonna come back until the day of mania and I want you to Be the guy in there with him. Yeah, and you're gonna get to do all the media and all that stuff So this will be huge for you. I was like Dude, I work 64 straight days before WrestleMania every single day On a media tour and in between shows and all that just because I was like I'll do everything. Yeah, so You know walking out there WrestleMania facing the ultimate warrior was cool experience Also that thing you came out of that the stage that that entrance that was used for that's one of those things like the winged eagle that at a Certain point. I'm gonna get all pre-workout up and send you a text like if we just did it just did it for one night I'm telling you Okay It's a funny thing like that's where our business is like you know, you're like I'm gonna get pre-workout up You know, like well, that's what I always try to say like cuz that you know, sometimes you get so the endorphins are flowing When you're in something and then an hour later you look at it What was I thinking cuz it's it's the hill you want to die on but also sometimes it's I don't want him thinking This was my yeah of all the things he pitched, you know, you know Usually when I like I get stuff from Michael I'm late and I'm like, what is this like it's there's a different reason It wasn't it wasn't pre-workout. Oh god We love Michael alright WrestleMania 22 that is you versus John Cena and the Throne yeah, so I'll put this up there what I what I say the other one was three I'll put this up at four That's four. This is one of those ones where like a first When we sort of first get into the light. Yeah. Hey, you guys want to do some kind of like elaborate Entrance. Yeah, you know, I think this is where John does the The Tommy gun yeah, the Tommy gun with the mobsters on the car and all that stuff and coming up from underneath the ramp and all that And I think punk was a part of it is riding on the car. Yeah, and you know, I'm backstage and this Like this is all like last second I don't see the gear until yeah the moment before the quick story on it The the throne gets caught as I'm coming up like the throne gets stuck in the lift and it's like And it's like stuck and I'm thinking like holy fuck I'm gonna have to climb out of this Just You know what I mean like This is the most embarrassing thing and just when I'm like panicking like I have to get out of the seat like Ellis is panicking next to me trying to any like pushed it over and it fit in the hole and it like started going up again I was going like thank God like this could have been the most disastrous thing ever We have we've never talked about it in the midst of these blind rankings. I think it is You never once when I came back asked me about Clearly taking your throne. Yeah making it imagery in my entrance away from here starting my own thing and Taking your hammer to it. Yeah, you never we thought is your hammer because it was smaller I Okay, yeah I did that kind of shit to me is like I remember when people brought it to me and it's like shown it to me And I was like fuck you. All right good for him. You know what I mean like yeah That's the kind of shit you do you try to make a name for yourself You're trying to get out there you try to do some cool shit trying to do some different stuff But believe me if I would have thought there was malice in it. Yeah, and and and maybe Indirectly there was some of the time I don't know but like no if I would have thought there was any serious malice and I would have called you and said Hey, dude, it's like are we okay? Like like no because I was I was you know I'm so close to your dad, but then I always felt like a connection to you. Yeah And and when you were here and it was difficult for me when you left because I couldn't say like Yeah, I couldn't over the top go like do get the fuck out of here and go go go out there and make a name for yourself And make yourself when you said a desirable and we'll fucking come chasing after you and bring you back in it Yeah, fucking sometimes you got to get out of the rut. You're in you just got to take yeah, just bite it off and go in a different direction make the left turn right and It was so difficult, but but during that time I remember thinking like right that's that that's That's getting out there. That's being bold and making a statement You did tell me because you said you know go rattle the cages Yeah, and you kind of made yourself the target for me to rattle in terms of the optics of wrestling And I there was no malice for sure because this is after I won the ring of honor title Yeah, one of the first texts I got back to was yours Congrats as I was walking to the hospital in Lowell because my lip was busted open holding my first world title Yeah, and yeah, no, I just you know, it was one of those things where you see somebody going off Doing their own thing and having success and I'm like, yeah, yeah Cody come on like get get yourself in that spot. Yeah, we're we're like, hey We should go like I don't know what he did different, but let's go get him. Yeah, you know what I mean I'm glad you're feeling is good on it versus because I'm thinking man if he's mad about it. It's a long road to Whatever whatever that pay off Now it's happening. No man, I never even I Never thought about anything other than yeah good for him, you know go go go Go get it. Hmm Ooh WrestleMania 34 You Steph Kurt angle Rhonda This is the the separate bikes. Yeah, and an all-woman biker game. Yeah, I might put this up as one just for that moment right there you know, I'm sort of at the end here and I'm just enjoying the moments and having the opportunity Kurt Rhonda Steph's gonna be in there Steph is like Out of her mind nervous like I remember her thinking like how does like do you do the water spit and coming to me like I got We got to practice this. I don't want to box. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know just a stream. Yeah Exactly the whole thing and and it was just such the whole thing was just so Cool and to be able to do it with yeah her yeah You know it's it's your tag team partner man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Thanks, you let sorry You know that brandy be part of us many a 40 and same reason. Yeah, it's it's it's don't get me started Okay, I didn't get my estrogen check After the Hall of Fame, I don't have to do it again. Okay, Russell WrestleMania 31 see you versus the stinger the Terminator So what would which also seems like the most unsafe? Yeah platform? Yeah? Oh, yeah You couldn't have got a 10 penny nail at my ass at this point We're out there like I'm it's that things rattling around it's shaking and there's like a little piece of thing holding me up there So I don't fall off. Yeah, this would have been so much more epically cool at night There's a couple funny things on this is One super cool that Terminator the movie they come to me and ask like yeah, hey We want to sponsor the entrance do the whole thing. I think the first one that really gets fully like Full bake sponsored nice Arnold does the read right like they're like Arnold won't do it I said like really? I'll call him and soon I called him. He was like, okay. I'll do it. Yeah, right like he gets into doing it Funny story is we call to get all these props from the movie and they're like sure then like a week and a half before they're like Hey, we don't have any of those things. Oh god, like there was no robots. There was no that was all CGI, right? Yeah, we had to like go to like a prop house and order every Terminator robot that they ever made that you could buy yeah and and bring them to the point where the Terminator movie then when they did the Red carpet for the movie called like hey, can we borrow those robots? The other funny pieces Sting goes out first. I'm down. You know what it's like when you're down in the elevator. Yeah, you're in that pit Then rehearsed sting smoke So we're in there. It's windy stings black smoke starts to go that entire Underneath the stage fills with smoke, but none of us know what the fuck is going on Yeah, I don't know if the shit's on fire. Should I get the fuck out of this hole like everybody's panicking? Nobody can see shit. I mean it was crazy and then all of a sudden the lift started going up I was like I guess we're going you know, I mean that nobody knew what was going on. Okay. Yeah crazy Okay, the next one So that was for I'll put that at four Okay, oh, I thought I put no that's not for Alright, I'll put this at five five or that yeah, this is hard. Yeah, I know and I feel bad doing WrestleMania 29 versus Brock Lesnar giant skullhead and this is also where you were explaining to me because that cryo Can take a PC from time to time. Yeah, I seem to have like cool entrances that somehow don't turn out epically in my favor Yeah, we had rehearsed this all gone great. I get in the thing and they blow the smoke on me and You know, I'm up first of all, I'm about to go face Brock, which is you know, I love working with Brock Yeah, and it's physical you very and So I'm about to go do that and you know, I'm getting older here and I'm standing in that smoke and all of a sudden as the smoke starts to blow I realize Hey, this is really burning like it didn't I don't recall it burning in the rehearsals like this and now I'm like boy It's really burning. I gotta get out of here. Yeah, and I step out of it and it like You know, you can hear shit internally in your body like I can hear myself sizzling Over the music like I can hear a sizzling sound and I am like What is that like and I start to walk and then I realize like I'm still burning and I don't I'm not walking down But I'm in like the zone and I don't realize what it is until Brock is like looking at me from the ring Like and he's like what happened is on you. Yeah, and I'm like, oh shit like I have Stuff all stuck to me and it had burnt the shit out of my skin. Oh, yeah, it was one of those things. Where's that one go? What I got left? I'll go 10. Yeah. Yeah, I think you're I think you made the right call the neck the next one You've got these are gonna be two back-to-back. You've got rustle made at 35 But Tista, this is Mad Max. It's right into the ring on the the post apocalyptic vehicle Yeah, this was a weird one cool imagery little weird When I got left I don't go nine nine. All right I think that I think that probably was the right call because this is a U21 also versus Batista Motorhead is playing you down in the ring pretty high. Yeah, yeah, and I totally not even thinking about this one Yeah, like this for me, you know Huge Motorhead fan growing up. They do my music. It's epic. They get to play me there. It's Classically Motorhead like they are so out of their minds. Yeah That I don't think Lem sang one actual lyric Like at the rehearsals were so bad that Kevin Dunn came to me. It's like should we just kill this whole thing? Yeah, and I'm like is they hadn't They hadn't gotten right yet, you know, I mean, yeah, they're just hung over from the night before and stuff and Kevin was like, it's this is horrible. I can we just kill it. I was like I Think once they get straight before the gig it'll be okay and It was it was Epically powerful. This is the lesson of it's not what you say. It's how you say it. Yeah, it was just yeah And for me coming up with those guys there and all it was just really really cool Oh, man. Well, there's our list and then was such a good friend. Yeah that You know meant even more Incredible. Thank you for indulging that of course, but also this went very long As when talking about wrestling it often happens and goes Yeah, and I knew and it's a funny thing because you talked about at the very beginning like them Wanting to do and it taking so long because I never wanted to go like yeah, I have an hour here It's not gonna go an hour. Yeah, you and I are gonna start talking in bullshit And it's yeah long and it's gonna be fun and you know, thanks for thanks for making it easy. No Thank you. Thank you and I'm very excited again. This is WrestleMania 42 and up against our own records as as as we were saying here and I'm very very just this is it's an honor to be be on this team and I'm excited to see where we go And this was just an absolute treat for me. So thank you very much for and I know we touched on it briefly but The the position that you're in Was not easy, right and people will tell you shit your whole career nepo, baby, whatever Fuck them. Yeah You earned this and then some You are one of the most Diligent guys in that locker room of wanting it to be right with no stone unturned you think about it non-stop You're so engaged in it and it's never really just about you. It's about the company and the product as a whole which Makes you a dream to work with it Really is and I don't want this to sound in some way like I'm talking down to you because of the position that you're in but I'm proud of you man for for all of it for gambling on yourself for Taking that step that 99.9% of the people in the world wouldn't do To get to where you are and doing it In a way that every single step of the way You did it the right way and in a way that would make Anybody especially your dad proud Well, thank you very much Ladies and gentlemen, what do you want to talk about triple H?