May 24, 2026 • 34 mins
WWE Superstars including Ric Flair, Charlotte Clair, Becky Lynch, and the Miz give some of their best stories about how they got started and their biggest moments in the WWE
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Games with Names.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Julian Edelman, and we got a brand new compilation
highlight reels starting now.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Next up Charlotte Flair on fighting Ronda Rowsey.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
So what made Survivor Series so but not, I mean
important but impactful? Was my opponent at the time, Becky
Lynch was like super red hot and Ronda was the
baddest woman on the planet, like that's what we had
labeled her as. And a week before Survivor Series, Becky
(00:35):
had her face bashed in and was supposed to be
wrestling Roonda at Survivor Series, and my boss was like, well,
Ronda can't wrestle We need the next best thing, meaning
like we had a promoted match Becky can't wrestle her, well,
who are we gonna have wrestle her? Like it has
to be just as good, if not better.
Speaker 5 (00:56):
So I was like, I have to wrestle Ronda.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
But the like you see me being like I have
to wrestle Ronda is because for almost a year, the
rumor on the street was Charlotte Flair versus Ronda Rousey
for WrestleMania. So if I was going in to wrestle
her at Survivor series on a one on one We're
(01:20):
not getting the WrestleMania match. I mean, so I was like,
oh my god. One, this match isn't promoted. Two they
wanted to see Becky versus Ronda. Three, Well what's my future?
And I got to LA a week early and just
thought to myself, like, whatever goes down that night, people
(01:43):
have to want to see Charlotte Flair versus Ronda again
or what's gonna make it that memorable? Plus, like at
that time, Becky was hot, but Ronda was untouchable.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
She was like untouchable.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
That's why this I think this is such a when
we get into the match, This is such a huge
match because she was the biggest UFC, the biggest thing
for UFC, and then she finally like she blew up
UFC in the women's department and then she got knocked
out or whatever, and then she came to We would have.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Not Maine invented wrestle Mania had it not been for Ronda,
hands down, like when she wanted to kind of join
what we had already started to build. But her star power,
her credibility, her outside influence, the audience that she brought,
like kudos to her man I know that. You know,
(02:38):
someone said in her book that you know, she couldn't wrestle,
but at the end of the day, it really didn't matter.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
She was Ronda and she didn't need to.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
She had such like an aura tour and really did
figure it out and you know, brought that much.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
To the table.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
So like, I thank her for what she did for us,
because like she didn't have to come wrestle, like she'd
already done at all, and it was real. So she
just added that legitimacy to what we were trying to
do that we didn't have. And she caught on like
this Survivor Series match, I don't think because it wasn't
(03:13):
you know, part of that overall big picture at the
end of Mania and the two belts being one. But like, dude,
I just thought she picked it up so fast without
having like any wrestling background or school, Like she just
knew how to react.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
And if you watch it, she had like so much
star power.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, and when you watch the match, it looked different.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Well yeah, because we were beating the shit out of
each other, not even that, but and.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
She she was using she was using all the UFC
armbar shit. Oh yeah, bring it over and incorporating it
like that never really been seen to me.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
At least, well, it had been seen, but not believable.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Not believable, not believable.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
And that is what's most important in our business.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
You can do all these moves, you can do all
I mean, sure I know how to do a submission,
but do I know how to break your arm?
Speaker 6 (03:59):
No?
Speaker 7 (03:59):
But she does.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
That's what made her special, and that's what made that
match so impactful is because you were like, well, is.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Is Ronda gonna break her arm? I don't like. Yeah,
that just made all the difference.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
What's her biggest strength?
Speaker 5 (04:16):
What is hers that she's been in a fight before before?
Speaker 1 (04:19):
She said that. Next O. J.
Speaker 8 (04:21):
Jackson Junior on why nineties wrestling was the best.
Speaker 9 (04:25):
Like, you know when you get the pass to go
to the bathroom and like classroom doors are open, so
you see your friends.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, you'd be like, were you w CW or WWF
WWF But WCW, like you jumped back.
Speaker 9 (04:38):
I was too young to like prefer I was just
excited to see wrestling. Yeah, So like at the time
I came in just like really start watching WCW.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I was at the point where in my.
Speaker 9 (04:50):
Life I thought whole Colgan was a WCW guy. Yeah,
you know, I never saw the red and yellow. I
just know this dude for being over here. And then
I think it was watching. Uh I noticed that.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
This dude, Scott Hall looks a lot like Razor Ramon.
And then my brother was like, yeah, he's uh he
was with w W. What do you mean he was
with w W.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
And then so I started to piece together like oh,
that's Diesel, diesels on.
Speaker 9 (05:21):
So then like now I'm like, oh my god, these
are two companies that people can jump ship. And you know,
then you start to you know, like Goldberger's there, Goldberg.
That was page So you know, I was really in
the w CW. But ww F.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
He was a gold standard. Yeah, dude, like you see
a little.
Speaker 10 (05:43):
It's a little Pepsi.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
It was Pepsi. Hey great, you need a soda? Yeah good,
But it ain't coke go.
Speaker 11 (05:54):
No one ever says is coke Okay.
Speaker 10 (05:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
There's also not an amendment that is grandfathered in for
the recipe or something right the use of it.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I just saw something about code.
Speaker 9 (06:06):
Somebody, an employee took the secret formula to Pepsi. PEPSI
took it to Colon s netched on the employee.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
That's that's respect.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
That respect respected, Pepsi Bro, respect to Pepsi, sa, Hey,
we can't be we're not joining them. Also, Pepsi's winning
in some categories. Pepsi's Gettoray, Pepsi's gator and they're also
what are they?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
What's there?
Speaker 10 (06:27):
Are they?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Seven up? Or Sprite? Their sprite? Coca Sprite sprice better?
I think Pepsi Sierra Missed.
Speaker 11 (06:36):
Or the new story Storry they changed.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
It to Starr Star. He's getting some hype. He used
to be here missed.
Speaker 10 (06:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I always tripped off, how like what's seven ups?
Speaker 10 (06:45):
Seven up?
Speaker 9 (06:46):
It's probably co Cola too, But like when I was
a kid, always tripped out on like how sprite was
for basketball players?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah, like that doesn't help you play basketball, not at all. Yeah,
Oh they get boat. They got two limon lime drinks.
Speaker 11 (07:02):
Yeah, weird freaks.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Pe seven us a little tartar not as sweet, Okay,
I feel you. I could blind taste these things. Like
no other seven up had a video game back in
the day for second I remember, and it was kind
of tight. Yeah Blagy little dot, Yeah, bro with the
glasses and he had the sneaks. Yeah, bro, I remember
that seven up game. Yeah, let's jump into the match.
(07:25):
I'm coming back for a part too, Bro, I was
going on seven up.
Speaker 11 (07:32):
Some more rock love here.
Speaker 10 (07:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (07:35):
So his signature moves was the rock bottom elbow. His
his moniker was the People's Champ, the Great One and
the Brahma Bull.
Speaker 9 (07:43):
Yeah, one on one, great one.
Speaker 11 (07:48):
Can you give us some rock phrases?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
What else did he say? Rudy Pool candy as candy
ass the millions dude?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Hell yeah, what he's always call him a piece of trash?
Speaker 10 (08:06):
Yeah, a piece of trash is great.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (08:10):
Also, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, bro. That was
it was so big that y Cleft made a song
about it.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 10 (08:18):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 11 (08:19):
That was your mouth, your mouth.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Those video games I suspended for doing the x PARC. Yeah,
to suck it my teacher. Oh wow, but that took
a turn, bro. Let me let me pay the abusing faculty. No, okay,
this is like nineteen ninety eight. Okay, okay, sitting there
(08:46):
and we had to sit down while we ate our
lunch before we could go play. I went to I
went to Standard Issue. Yeah, mister Kallis shout out rip.
He was going that way towards the de fence and
I went to Catholic school.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
He goes towards the fence.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I get up and I'm like, straight sucking double triple right,
doesn't see. I think I get away Scott free Old
Janet walking by the fucking school.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Old Janet's jet waves down.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Mister Kallis tells him everything as I'm watching, I'm sitting
there eating my mom's peev and Jay I'm sitting on
the watching this thing. I'm like, there's no way this
lady's gonna say anything. They both point back and points
at me. He starts scold walking to me. I'm like,
I didn't do anything before he came. He goes go
(09:44):
to Miss Anthony's office. So when I got suspended for
that for narcro snitches get stitches.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Janet, Damn Janet. I saw you.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I saw you a mass three days later a because
I didn't go. I didn't go over for community. So
she looked me in the eye because I was a
kid in the pew fucking yeah, wrestling teacher's crazy, like I.
Speaker 9 (10:10):
Thought you were like, like you know, when you get
the pass to go to the bathroom and like classroom
doors are open, so you see your friends.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yeah, you'd be like, wait, were you guys a cross
or like a bow?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I was doing jump to the air. That's athleticism. Yeah, bro,
it was bad.
Speaker 8 (10:31):
Now the Miz explains how he went from the real
world to.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
The w w E When did you know you wanted
to be become a professional wrestler?
Speaker 10 (10:39):
Real world? Real world?
Speaker 12 (10:41):
So with you growing up, I guess you always were like,
I'm gonna play football and play fall for me Like
I would have in the back of my head I
could do this, I could do this, but it was
never like a real thought. The real thought was always
like when you're done with high school, you go to college.
After college, you go back to where you live, you
get a job, you get a family, and that's what
you do for the rest of your life.
Speaker 10 (10:59):
That's that's that was my mentality.
Speaker 12 (11:01):
Then I saw I was at Miam of Ohio and
my fraternity and I saw on TV I was watching
Real World New Orleans and it said, do you want
to dry up for the real world, Here's how you
do it. And I was like, I want to try out.
All my friends were like dude, don't try. You're not
gonna You're not gonna make it. There's like sixty thousand people.
Like back then MTV everything.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
It was you, every every love, everybody, Yeah, everybody.
Speaker 12 (11:24):
Yes, I'm glad that you remember those days because people
now MTV it's like, what's that.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
It's like, it's no like it was the biggest ship.
It was everything. It was like, it was the biggest shows.
You know, the Housewives. Now, what's the real World? I
would even say it's it was bigger than the Housewives.
What's the equivalent? Jackie's a big reality TV guy. I
would say Housewives is up there. You got your summer house.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
But I think Mike's spot on there was nothing like
the real World, man, nothing like you in appealed to
the broad appeal age range. I mean, I was like
eight years old. I want to go on MTV spring Break. Bro,
I did do that.
Speaker 12 (11:57):
So my goal was like to go do the Real
World the challenges and host spring Break, and I got
to do it all.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I went.
Speaker 12 (12:04):
I went to Cancun for a month. I think they
gave me the key to the city for the cycle.
Oh my God.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
To meet PAULI Short was he was he still hosted
I didn't meet.
Speaker 12 (12:14):
No, he was not hosting it at the time I
did it. I did a show for like Doctor Pepper
or something like that.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Man, dude, the strangle old MTV had on us unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
No, when you're when you're doing the Real World and
you figure out that you want to do wrestling, well.
Speaker 12 (12:32):
First off, when I was doing the Real World, it
wasn't like, oh, I want to be a wrestler, I'm
going to do the Miss. I did the Miz because
I was uncomfortable in my situation and whenever I would drink,
I would just start cutting promos like I saw my
wrestlers do, and everyone ended up starting loving it. So everyone,
all my all the castmates who hated me, were like,
do the MAZ do the MAZ do the maz is
(12:53):
because it was fun. It was exciting, right, and so
I just started doing the Miz and then the Miz.
They liked Miz more than they like Mike, and I
was like, Wow, this is this is fun. And then
afterwards I remember going back being in my dad's condo
and being like, what do I want to do for
the rest of my life?
Speaker 10 (13:10):
Like, what do I want to do I want to
go back to college my.
Speaker 12 (13:12):
Bio and have business classes that I literally was like
getting DS in and not really doing well in because
it was college and it was fun. And so I
was like, you know what I'm gonna I'm going to
become a WWE like superstar. I'm gonna try that. So
I went on I went on the on my computer.
I looked up like wrestling schools and there was one
in Louisville, and there was one in LA.
Speaker 10 (13:34):
And I was like, I'm going to lay I'm going
to La. Kidding me.
Speaker 12 (13:37):
But I didn't have any money because real world doesn't
pay like. I made nothing on the real world like legit.
I went bankrupt.
Speaker 10 (13:44):
On the real world.
Speaker 12 (13:45):
I spent all my credit cards like because I was like,
I wanted to live the life.
Speaker 10 (13:49):
Right I'm in New.
Speaker 12 (13:49):
York City for the first time, had a credit card
blasted blasted, Oh.
Speaker 10 (13:53):
You guys want drinks, here you go, here you go.
Speaker 12 (13:56):
Great city, Oh my god, the best or the worst city,
best or the worst?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Expensive but awesome.
Speaker 12 (14:02):
Very expensive. And I lived in like a three story
like mansion. I'll never have a house like that in
New York ever again. Because it was unreal, and so
it's funny. And people always ask me like, is it
really real? Is it really real? Like that's the number
one question I get with Real World Wrestling everything Is
it real?
Speaker 10 (14:19):
Is it real?
Speaker 12 (14:20):
And I always say Real World was as real as
you can get on TV because there are cameras around.
There's cameras around you twenty four to seven. But once
you have a camera around you twenty four to seven
for a week, it just becomes a part of life
norm and it's the norm, and so then you just
start living your life and that's the way it is now.
Speaker 10 (14:36):
Is there editing? Is there? Music? Is there all these
different things?
Speaker 12 (14:39):
Yeah, but the experiences that I lived there were one
hundred percent true and so I uh. And whenever people
tell you like, oh, they edited me wrong, they did
this wrong, they did this dirty on me. Usually those
are the people that they weren't themselves on the show.
They try to portray a character or a character, and
then they watch the show and they don't see the
person that they are or they don't realize who they are,
(15:03):
and then they see it and they're like, well, that's
not me, and it's like, hmm, that's the way you.
Speaker 10 (15:06):
Were on the show, so I don't know, you know.
Speaker 12 (15:11):
So then so then I got on a challenge because
I didn't get paid anything, right, they offered a challenge
to me, and I was like, oh my god, a challenge.
Speaker 10 (15:18):
Yeah, I have to win this thing because I need money.
Speaker 12 (15:20):
So I ended up going on the challenge, winning the
challenge and moving taking all that money and moving to
Los Angeles, paid for a rent, paid for. People are like,
would you would you you? Would you buy your big
What was the first thing you bought? I was like, well,
I bought wrestling classes so I can learn how to
learn the artifessional wrestling, acting classes, improv. I went to Groundlings, Improv, Olympics,
(15:43):
and Second City. And then I was like, I remember,
the only way I I could afford like a workout
was like through like muscle and fitness like magazines, Right,
I'd buy a magazine just find the workout, and like
I had a nutritious that came in there. I had
to pay them a hundre dollars a month in order
to get me like the right foods that I should
be eating to really lock in my body. And so
(16:06):
that's kind of all the money that I spent on WW.
And you would think since I was on the Real World,
the most popular show in America at the time, that
WW was like, hey, come on over to WWE.
Speaker 10 (16:19):
But they weren't.
Speaker 12 (16:19):
As a matter of fact, it was a negative like
if you were on a reality show, you were not
Like Hollywood didn't want you.
Speaker 10 (16:27):
You weren't allowed to go on like auditions.
Speaker 12 (16:29):
Now nowadays it's like, oh my gosh, you have a
fan base, Yes, come on, let's do it. Oh you
have social media, you have this, you have this. Influencers
are like, oh like everything. Back then, there was no
way you were an anomaly. Yeah, nobody wanted you because
you were taking one in Hollywood. You were taking jobs
from actors, real actors, Like, you're a no talent hack
(16:50):
all you're on you're on a reality show. You're what
have you done? You lived your life in front of
a camera? Congratulations, you have no talent. So I want
to to obviously prove them wrong. Chip on my shoulder
kind of like you had. And so I just kept
going and kept working, kept working. Every time I would
go out to a club, people wuld be like, why
do you want to be a wrestler? You want to
(17:11):
be a wrestler, you want to be a wrestler. You
know who was always supportive anytime I'd go on a challenge.
The castmates of the Real World. They could have been jealous, right,
they could have been like, oh whatever, they were so supportive.
They would wear like I saw that WW did a
lot of merch, right, so I was like, I'm gonna
make my own merch and WW will see that I
can sell merch. And if I can sell merch, I
(17:33):
have a fan base, I have an audience. I'm doing
all the acting, all the improv, all the wrestling school.
They'll see me and they'll want to try to give
me a tryout. And that still wasn't the case, but
I was going to try to do it. And whenever
I brought the merch onto the challenges, they all would
wear my shirts, would all wear my logos. They would
always ask me to do promos, and they was so
(17:54):
supportive and they didn't have to be.
Speaker 10 (17:57):
And now you will see that no.
Speaker 12 (17:59):
One's allowed to do that anymore because I ruined it
for everybody. No one's allowed to bring their own merch
on TV show on the Challenge, Yeah, because now they
do that, like they didn't have that back now I
ruined it for everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Fucking the Wall Wall West back then you killed it.
But think about it, you try to find it.
Speaker 12 (18:14):
Like it's like with football, right, I imagine you find
all the tools you could possibly do to succeed when
you were going for your tryout for New England or
when you've got drafted what seventh round, Like you weren't
making that team, there's no way you were going to
make that team, but in your mind you were and
you were going to use every tool you could possibly
do in order to make sure that you made that
(18:35):
team whatever it possible. Was same with WWE. You need
to find every single tool to find to make sure
that that you're a no brainer that they have to
take you. And it took three years, three years of
like going on the Independence and uh, you know it's funny,
Matt Light. I wrestled for his foundation.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Matt Lfe Foundation, Shout out my life.
Speaker 10 (18:56):
Matt Light Foundation.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
So he was shoot out.
Speaker 10 (19:00):
By the way, Matt Light, thank you for.
Speaker 12 (19:02):
Actually booking me, because no one would book me.
Speaker 10 (19:04):
I was having a hard time on the indies to
try to do it.
Speaker 12 (19:07):
And he had this show at like maybe it was
like the Roxy in Boston, and by the way, everyone
showed up like that was one of the cool moments.
I was like, oh wow, like all the almost the
entire offensive line, Brady was there and it was just
a show at the Roxy and I was a part
(19:28):
of the show. They flew me out to Boston to
And this was like in two thousand and two, before
I was in WW, I was on Real World but
was not getting booked, and I got to meet everybody
and hang out with everybody, and it was awesome because
if you could see why they're winning super Bowls, like
they were friends.
Speaker 10 (19:46):
They were hanging out with each other.
Speaker 12 (19:47):
You know, that's how you build a bond, That's how
you build a locker room, and like that's how you
win a men, how you have a winning mentality.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
One thousand.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I mean you willed yourself to become in a WWE superstar.
I mean acting class, wrestling school, nutritionist.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I mean people don't.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I hope people understand how hard it is to chase
your dream. And it's not everyone. Whenever anyone says, oh,
I would give anything to be in that guy's shoes,
you wouldn't because you had the opportunity to. You want
the lifestyle you want the lifestyle, you don't understand the
grit and the hard work it took for you to
(20:32):
transform yourself. Because at that time, like you said, first thing,
I first thing I said when I went when we
got you on the show, I was like, man, it's
so crazy that he became from the he came from
the real world and now has been in the WWE
for twenty fucking years and has been like no one
even knows he's part of the real world now.
Speaker 8 (20:54):
Becky Lynch on becoming a villain, did you.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Love being like the heel?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Because I loved being a villain when I would come
out because I felt, you know, like you're going out,
you're proving people wrong, you're proving what you know. I
would always go and fucking do my little heel thing.
When I go to another stadium, I'd run a hundred
yards and I fucking fist pump over at the crowd.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
They'd be all booming and shit. I embraced it.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
You know, you go to New York City, you go
to Buffalo, these people hated you, you know, but I
fueled off that.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Did you feel off? Oh really?
Speaker 13 (21:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (21:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, wow?
Speaker 7 (21:26):
Because you can do no wrong, right, Like.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Because you've got this freedom, it's when you're what a
burden to be liked by everybody?
Speaker 7 (21:35):
You know what I mean, like to be you put.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
That standard on yourself. Yeah, you know, but.
Speaker 5 (21:40):
That's your job.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Your job is to be the babyface, the good guy,
to have people root for you. And so when you're
when you're the bad guy, like great, you get to
make people hate you and that is your job. And
so you can do no wrong. You can say whatever
you want, you can do whatever you want, and inevitably,
(22:05):
when you're doing that, you're having more fun. So then
people start to like you, so then you become a babyface.
But then you're saddled with them needing to like you,
so then you're restricted and then your freedom goes away,
so then they start to boo you. So then you
start having fun because then you're the heel, and then
you can do no wrong, and then they start to
(22:25):
cheer you again because you're having and it's just endless.
Speaker 7 (22:29):
It's just this endless cycle.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (22:32):
Do you have any favorite like specific moments or things
that you got to do while you were playing a heel?
Speaker 6 (22:37):
Oh gosh, oh, I really liked going to cut Bianca's hair,
you know, but then she turned it around on me,
just because like I kind of wed. We led up
to that so much, and I think people really thought
that it was gonna happen, and they were so mad
(22:58):
about it, you know, because beyond gays is this cool,
awesome braid that she's able to do just amazing things
with m Yeah yeah yeah, but but.
Speaker 7 (23:09):
But then she turned it around and then cut my
hair off.
Speaker 8 (23:12):
Scissors in the ring is always fun.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I like that.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
I'm very scary, very scary.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, because she was like ko
ding me way too close to them scissors, you know,
could have been very dangerous.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Don't run with.
Speaker 7 (23:27):
Cut a lost and on. My mom was right all
along real quick.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Before we go into our next segment, what's it like
being married to another w w E star?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Like do you guys?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Are you guys at home like on and off night,
like practicing moves on each other and stuff like, hey,
on this DT that I got to execute next week,
Like can you can you come over here like just
fucking knock them right?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
No?
Speaker 13 (23:55):
No, not really, not really that, but like suppose there
is like so he's got a wrestling school in in Iowa,
and so like anytime when I was coming back.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
From collegiate, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, and uh
don't really get many of them coming into the school anyway.
And but yeah, so so I get in with him
and and wrestle around with him, and you know, like
he's he's amazing, he's just so so good. So uh
(24:29):
that's that's just awesome, Like you couldn't get better, you guys,
couldn't get a better partner. And then he's like he's
just got such a great mind for it, and he's
so sweat and now this is just gonna end up
in a whole tribute to how great Kobe Lopez aka
Seth Rollins is. But he's just he's he's he's so awesome,
and it's so great to be able to talk about
wrestling or not talk about wrestling. And but really, like
(24:52):
run an idea. The one thing I think, the one
issue we may run into is that like he's a
no seller, Like he doesn't sell anything right like like, so,
so I'll be all hyped up about this idea that
I have and then this is gonna happen, and this
is gonna happen, and this isn't that the best thing
you ever heard?
Speaker 7 (25:11):
And uh and he'll be like yeah, and then what
you know and.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Then a round of applause.
Speaker 7 (25:17):
Please you know? But yeah, no, it's it's it's the best.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
It's the best.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
That's fucking awesome.
Speaker 8 (25:24):
Now we got Rick Flair on how he took over wrestling.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Who's this? Uh?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Vern gane vern Ganya Gan tough as hell? Tough talk
about the training because I remember you. I saw something
where he made you guys do this training and you
said it was the hardest training ever.
Speaker 10 (25:39):
Oh my god.
Speaker 14 (25:40):
Well, first of all, Ken Battero is what I knew, vern, right,
But Ken Pattero was training for the seventy two Olympics,
and Ken and I lived together. And when Ganya said
to me, I knew his son real well, and said
you want to come to the training camp too, And
(26:01):
I said, yeah, ship, But I was three hundred pounds,
I could total sixteen forty and the power Lives I
was just training with. Can I just got you know,
big in it? So I'm thinking, yeah, I'm thinking of
Dick the Bruiser and the Crusher. The first day out there,
we trained at his farm out Wise. That a two
(26:24):
mile run two mile run in a cornfield, right, five
hundred free squads, two hundred and fifty push ups, two
hundred and fifty crunches.
Speaker 10 (26:36):
How long do you think it took me?
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Twelve hours?
Speaker 10 (26:40):
Huh?
Speaker 14 (26:40):
Twelve hours seven seven? Yeah, I mean you were three
hundred pund Yeah. Wait, I hadn't run a mile and
I was a freshman in college.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Seven hours I quit? When did it become easy? Did
it ever become easy? You keep on doing it? It
took me three months. I quit twice.
Speaker 14 (27:00):
He but Verne came over and got me literally slid,
as I says, thirty for thirty. He literally slapped me
across the face to throw me out in the front yard.
That you've quit everything you've ever done in the libry
and quitting me, Okay, it was.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Brutal low now now was that? I mean that was probably.
Speaker 10 (27:19):
You think about that. You know how your wheelbarrow? Right?
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (27:23):
Up?
Speaker 14 (27:23):
Twenty two flights of stairs? Are you kidding to hold
the guy's legs and you've got to crawl like this
shoulders and then you carry him down? Oh my god,
that's like some Navy seal ship. Oh yeah, you would
not imagine. Remember Brian Oldfield, the shot putter.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah, it's a little before I wasn't the shot putting guy.
Speaker 10 (27:42):
But no, but you know the day right, Yeah, he
lasted in one hour? Gee, he walked on there. Screw this.
Speaker 14 (27:50):
No, you know so many pro football players have tried
to come in in the old days. Yeah, Otis says,
struggling for the guy from the Raiders. Yeah he lasted
an hour. Who was the guy in the Steelers that
was shooting the gun? Played with me and Joe Green in.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
That shooting the gun on the Steelers?
Speaker 14 (28:11):
Can't anyway, he came, he lasted the day. So and
where was it at at his farm? And where farming?
Speaker 10 (28:20):
Wise? Out of Minnesota?
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Minnesota? Yeah, so what time of year is this? You
said it was cold?
Speaker 14 (28:27):
It was, well, the Olympics were over in September. When
trained October, November, December. That I had my first match
in January seventy three, and nobody told us what to do.
No one told you, what said, what do we do
is just go out there and do what I taught you.
Speaker 10 (28:46):
What was that? Mey?
Speaker 1 (28:49):
So you were in had a good shape though you
were in shape.
Speaker 10 (28:54):
Yeah, that's somber an issue for me. It's just toning
it down. I never knew when to go go to Betty.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 11 (29:07):
You played football at Minnesota for a minute, right.
Speaker 14 (29:10):
I was freshmen, weren't eligible, but I played. Yeah, yeah,
I would have. I would have started my sophomore year,
but I they put me in summer school.
Speaker 10 (29:18):
I lasted two days and got in my car.
Speaker 14 (29:21):
There was no cell phones or anything back then drove
Chicago to see my friend at the Worts family that
are owned the black Hawks and the Bulls and all that.
And they did on the Bulls and it before they
sold Majera Reinesorf. But my parents thought I was in school.
They had no idea where I was. So I kind
(29:42):
of like went into my own life when when they
put me in boarding school. Yeah, fifteen, street smart, hitchike
to Miami three times. That was exciting one fifteen years
old hitchhiking down the road.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Now, what do you say to someone when you're hitch hiking, Like,
how do you wave them down? Give me the pitch
if I'm driving down the car fifteen.
Speaker 10 (30:06):
But you have to remember, all this is in the sixties.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Regardless, you got to I've never even heard of this
like this, And so they stop and there figure out.
Speaker 10 (30:15):
Yeah, that's Cristy. Yeah.
Speaker 14 (30:17):
Four girls from Michigan State picked me up and I
went all into Miami with them.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Wow, that's like the movie Dumb Dumber. Yeah, it was coming.
Speaker 11 (30:28):
By Hawaiian Tropics girls.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Oh my god.
Speaker 10 (30:32):
Yeah, ron Rice, ron Me and Ronnie. I've had fun
with him.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Now, who are some of your wrestling heroes? When you
you meet Vern you start training, who are some of
the guys you idolize that you wanted to form your
style off of.
Speaker 10 (30:47):
Il Dusty Roads?
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Dusty Roads?
Speaker 10 (30:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 14 (30:50):
Yeah, Vern said to me, why do you like him?
He can't work? I said, I said, I just I
think he's the greatest.
Speaker 10 (30:58):
You know.
Speaker 14 (30:59):
He was so was madic god looking dream was.
Speaker 10 (31:03):
One of one of one kind. Hard Times put me
through hard times.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Rick Claire put me through hard times.
Speaker 10 (31:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Who's the Who is the best wrestler to go out with?
Speaker 10 (31:14):
Uh?
Speaker 14 (31:15):
Party with? Yeah? Which decade?
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Start eighties?
Speaker 14 (31:21):
In the eighties, arn Anderson, I had a ball and
then I've had so much fun with the Undertaker.
Speaker 10 (31:29):
I lost two old legs watching with the Undertaker.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
I love the Undertaker.
Speaker 14 (31:35):
He's the best you get Drake Jack daniels Man, Oh
Jesus does Paul Bear go out to No, Paul Bear
was real calm, yeah, but Taker and I would tear
your apart.
Speaker 10 (31:47):
My god.
Speaker 14 (31:48):
We used to go into European tours where they let
us stay overnight in each town.
Speaker 10 (31:54):
What that was rough?
Speaker 14 (31:55):
What was the best town in Europe? I have to
say the towns in Germany were the best. Germany, yeah,
Ingland was good, to Manchester, London, I wasn't too crazy
about Italy. Spain was okay, but then but the best
trip is so Vince calls me and says that you
(32:21):
and tak Her are gonna go wrestle in Japan and
then from there you go to to London right for
subate and then to take her and I take off
and go to Japan. He wrestles, Kurt Angle, I wrestle.
I can't remember where wrestled. Then we fly to London right,
(32:42):
and then we flew home and we got so screwed up.
So we apparently landed in Chicago right, and.
Speaker 10 (32:54):
He put my arms.
Speaker 14 (32:57):
The clean up crew woke me up, mister Flaire, you
have to get off the plane, and I said, wait,
where are we?
Speaker 10 (33:05):
And he just he left me with my hands over.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Like like Undertaker put you in the casket. Yeah, he
puts you in the casket.
Speaker 10 (33:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 14 (33:14):
Uh yeah, he had some good times undertaker.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Now you were the driver for Andre the Giant.
Speaker 10 (33:21):
Yeah, I drove Andre for a year when he was
Jon Frere. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 14 (33:28):
Now I took him to Chicago and all that he was.
I'd take him to see all the bar it was.
It was tremendous.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Now what would you drive him in?
Speaker 10 (33:37):
Made?
Speaker 14 (33:37):
He sat in the backseat in my car, big guy.
Oh say, well, he wasn't as heavy than when he
first started. He was like when I first met him,
he was like four probably four twenty four thirty, But
then you know, he eventually got to five sixty Jesus Yeah,
like auld Drake boy.
Speaker 10 (33:55):
Yeah, so you've never seen anybody like that in your life.
Speaker 14 (33:58):
I've heard a hundred. I've heard a hundred, one hundred
and six ers. I saw him do it?
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Is he the best drinker of all time?
Speaker 10 (34:04):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 14 (34:05):
He drank a goddamn seven forty seven out of every
bottle of vodka on the plane. I mean, other people
are getting served too, but boss, more vodka.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
You don't have any more? He caught it.
Speaker 10 (34:24):
Bring me something else?
Speaker 11 (34:26):
Was he even getting drunk or was it just no?
Speaker 10 (34:30):
Can you kidding me?
Speaker 11 (34:33):
Thanks for listening. Remember to tune in every Tuesday for
a brand new episode and every Sunday for another Games
with names highlighted
Welcome to Games with Names.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Julian Edelman, and we got a brand new compilation
highlight reels starting now.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Next up Charlotte Flair on fighting Ronda Rowsey.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
So what made Survivor Series so but not, I mean
important but impactful? Was my opponent at the time, Becky
Lynch was like super red hot and Ronda was the
baddest woman on the planet, like that's what we had
labeled her as. And a week before Survivor Series, Becky
(00:35):
had her face bashed in and was supposed to be
wrestling Roonda at Survivor Series, and my boss was like, well,
Ronda can't wrestle We need the next best thing, meaning
like we had a promoted match Becky can't wrestle her, well,
who are we gonna have wrestle her? Like it has
to be just as good, if not better.
Speaker 5 (00:56):
So I was like, I have to wrestle Ronda.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
But the like you see me being like I have
to wrestle Ronda is because for almost a year, the
rumor on the street was Charlotte Flair versus Ronda Rousey
for WrestleMania. So if I was going in to wrestle
her at Survivor series on a one on one We're
(01:20):
not getting the WrestleMania match. I mean, so I was like,
oh my god. One, this match isn't promoted. Two they
wanted to see Becky versus Ronda. Three, Well what's my future?
And I got to LA a week early and just
thought to myself, like, whatever goes down that night, people
(01:43):
have to want to see Charlotte Flair versus Ronda again
or what's gonna make it that memorable? Plus, like at
that time, Becky was hot, but Ronda was untouchable.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
She was like untouchable.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
That's why this I think this is such a when
we get into the match, This is such a huge
match because she was the biggest UFC, the biggest thing
for UFC, and then she finally like she blew up
UFC in the women's department and then she got knocked
out or whatever, and then she came to We would have.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Not Maine invented wrestle Mania had it not been for Ronda,
hands down, like when she wanted to kind of join
what we had already started to build. But her star power,
her credibility, her outside influence, the audience that she brought,
like kudos to her man I know that. You know,
(02:38):
someone said in her book that you know, she couldn't wrestle,
but at the end of the day, it really didn't matter.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
She was Ronda and she didn't need to.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
She had such like an aura tour and really did
figure it out and you know, brought that much.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
To the table.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
So like, I thank her for what she did for us,
because like she didn't have to come wrestle, like she'd
already done at all, and it was real. So she
just added that legitimacy to what we were trying to
do that we didn't have. And she caught on like
this Survivor Series match, I don't think because it wasn't
(03:13):
you know, part of that overall big picture at the
end of Mania and the two belts being one. But like, dude,
I just thought she picked it up so fast without
having like any wrestling background or school, Like she just
knew how to react.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
And if you watch it, she had like so much
star power.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, and when you watch the match, it looked different.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Well yeah, because we were beating the shit out of
each other, not even that, but and.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
She she was using she was using all the UFC
armbar shit. Oh yeah, bring it over and incorporating it
like that never really been seen to me.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
At least, well, it had been seen, but not believable.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Not believable, not believable.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
And that is what's most important in our business.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
You can do all these moves, you can do all
I mean, sure I know how to do a submission,
but do I know how to break your arm?
Speaker 6 (03:59):
No?
Speaker 7 (03:59):
But she does.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
That's what made her special, and that's what made that
match so impactful is because you were like, well, is.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Is Ronda gonna break her arm? I don't like. Yeah,
that just made all the difference.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
What's her biggest strength?
Speaker 5 (04:16):
What is hers that she's been in a fight before before?
Speaker 1 (04:19):
She said that. Next O. J.
Speaker 8 (04:21):
Jackson Junior on why nineties wrestling was the best.
Speaker 9 (04:25):
Like, you know when you get the pass to go
to the bathroom and like classroom doors are open, so
you see your friends.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, you'd be like, were you w CW or WWF
WWF But WCW, like you jumped back.
Speaker 9 (04:38):
I was too young to like prefer I was just
excited to see wrestling. Yeah, So like at the time
I came in just like really start watching WCW.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I was at the point where in my.
Speaker 9 (04:50):
Life I thought whole Colgan was a WCW guy. Yeah,
you know, I never saw the red and yellow. I
just know this dude for being over here. And then
I think it was watching. Uh I noticed that.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
This dude, Scott Hall looks a lot like Razor Ramon.
And then my brother was like, yeah, he's uh he
was with w W. What do you mean he was
with w W.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
And then so I started to piece together like oh,
that's Diesel, diesels on.
Speaker 9 (05:21):
So then like now I'm like, oh my god, these
are two companies that people can jump ship. And you know,
then you start to you know, like Goldberger's there, Goldberg.
That was page So you know, I was really in
the w CW. But ww F.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
He was a gold standard. Yeah, dude, like you see
a little.
Speaker 10 (05:43):
It's a little Pepsi.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
It was Pepsi. Hey great, you need a soda? Yeah good,
But it ain't coke go.
Speaker 11 (05:54):
No one ever says is coke Okay.
Speaker 10 (05:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
There's also not an amendment that is grandfathered in for
the recipe or something right the use of it.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I just saw something about code.
Speaker 9 (06:06):
Somebody, an employee took the secret formula to Pepsi. PEPSI
took it to Colon s netched on the employee.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
That's that's respect.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
That respect respected, Pepsi Bro, respect to Pepsi, sa, Hey,
we can't be we're not joining them. Also, Pepsi's winning
in some categories. Pepsi's Gettoray, Pepsi's gator and they're also
what are they?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
What's there?
Speaker 10 (06:27):
Are they?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Seven up? Or Sprite? Their sprite? Coca Sprite sprice better?
I think Pepsi Sierra Missed.
Speaker 11 (06:36):
Or the new story Storry they changed.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
It to Starr Star. He's getting some hype. He used
to be here missed.
Speaker 10 (06:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I always tripped off, how like what's seven ups?
Speaker 10 (06:45):
Seven up?
Speaker 9 (06:46):
It's probably co Cola too, But like when I was
a kid, always tripped out on like how sprite was
for basketball players?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah, like that doesn't help you play basketball, not at all. Yeah,
Oh they get boat. They got two limon lime drinks.
Speaker 11 (07:02):
Yeah, weird freaks.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Pe seven us a little tartar not as sweet, Okay,
I feel you. I could blind taste these things. Like
no other seven up had a video game back in
the day for second I remember, and it was kind
of tight. Yeah Blagy little dot, Yeah, bro with the
glasses and he had the sneaks. Yeah, bro, I remember
that seven up game. Yeah, let's jump into the match.
(07:25):
I'm coming back for a part too, Bro, I was
going on seven up.
Speaker 11 (07:32):
Some more rock love here.
Speaker 10 (07:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (07:35):
So his signature moves was the rock bottom elbow. His
his moniker was the People's Champ, the Great One and
the Brahma Bull.
Speaker 9 (07:43):
Yeah, one on one, great one.
Speaker 11 (07:48):
Can you give us some rock phrases?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
What else did he say? Rudy Pool candy as candy
ass the millions dude?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Hell yeah, what he's always call him a piece of trash?
Speaker 10 (08:06):
Yeah, a piece of trash is great.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (08:10):
Also, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, bro. That was
it was so big that y Cleft made a song
about it.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 10 (08:18):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 11 (08:19):
That was your mouth, your mouth.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Those video games I suspended for doing the x PARC. Yeah,
to suck it my teacher. Oh wow, but that took
a turn, bro. Let me let me pay the abusing faculty. No, okay,
this is like nineteen ninety eight. Okay, okay, sitting there
(08:46):
and we had to sit down while we ate our
lunch before we could go play. I went to I
went to Standard Issue. Yeah, mister Kallis shout out rip.
He was going that way towards the de fence and
I went to Catholic school.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
He goes towards the fence.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I get up and I'm like, straight sucking double triple right,
doesn't see. I think I get away Scott free Old
Janet walking by the fucking school.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Old Janet's jet waves down.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Mister Kallis tells him everything as I'm watching, I'm sitting
there eating my mom's peev and Jay I'm sitting on
the watching this thing. I'm like, there's no way this
lady's gonna say anything. They both point back and points
at me. He starts scold walking to me. I'm like,
I didn't do anything before he came. He goes go
(09:44):
to Miss Anthony's office. So when I got suspended for
that for narcro snitches get stitches.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Janet, Damn Janet. I saw you.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I saw you a mass three days later a because
I didn't go. I didn't go over for community. So
she looked me in the eye because I was a
kid in the pew fucking yeah, wrestling teacher's crazy, like I.
Speaker 9 (10:10):
Thought you were like, like you know, when you get
the pass to go to the bathroom and like classroom
doors are open, so you see your friends.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yeah, you'd be like, wait, were you guys a cross
or like a bow?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I was doing jump to the air. That's athleticism. Yeah, bro,
it was bad.
Speaker 8 (10:31):
Now the Miz explains how he went from the real
world to.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
The w w E When did you know you wanted
to be become a professional wrestler?
Speaker 10 (10:39):
Real world? Real world?
Speaker 12 (10:41):
So with you growing up, I guess you always were like,
I'm gonna play football and play fall for me Like
I would have in the back of my head I
could do this, I could do this, but it was
never like a real thought. The real thought was always
like when you're done with high school, you go to college.
After college, you go back to where you live, you
get a job, you get a family, and that's what
you do for the rest of your life.
Speaker 10 (10:59):
That's that's that was my mentality.
Speaker 12 (11:01):
Then I saw I was at Miam of Ohio and
my fraternity and I saw on TV I was watching
Real World New Orleans and it said, do you want
to dry up for the real world, Here's how you
do it. And I was like, I want to try out.
All my friends were like dude, don't try. You're not
gonna You're not gonna make it. There's like sixty thousand people.
Like back then MTV everything.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
It was you, every every love, everybody, Yeah, everybody.
Speaker 12 (11:24):
Yes, I'm glad that you remember those days because people
now MTV it's like, what's that.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
It's like, it's no like it was the biggest ship.
It was everything. It was like, it was the biggest shows.
You know, the Housewives. Now, what's the real World? I
would even say it's it was bigger than the Housewives.
What's the equivalent? Jackie's a big reality TV guy. I
would say Housewives is up there. You got your summer house.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
But I think Mike's spot on there was nothing like
the real World, man, nothing like you in appealed to
the broad appeal age range. I mean, I was like
eight years old. I want to go on MTV spring Break. Bro,
I did do that.
Speaker 12 (11:57):
So my goal was like to go do the Real
World the challenges and host spring Break, and I got
to do it all.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I went.
Speaker 12 (12:04):
I went to Cancun for a month. I think they
gave me the key to the city for the cycle.
Oh my God.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
To meet PAULI Short was he was he still hosted
I didn't meet.
Speaker 12 (12:14):
No, he was not hosting it at the time I
did it. I did a show for like Doctor Pepper
or something like that.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Man, dude, the strangle old MTV had on us unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
No, when you're when you're doing the Real World and
you figure out that you want to do wrestling, well.
Speaker 12 (12:32):
First off, when I was doing the Real World, it
wasn't like, oh, I want to be a wrestler, I'm
going to do the Miss. I did the Miz because
I was uncomfortable in my situation and whenever I would drink,
I would just start cutting promos like I saw my
wrestlers do, and everyone ended up starting loving it. So everyone,
all my all the castmates who hated me, were like,
do the MAZ do the MAZ do the maz is
(12:53):
because it was fun. It was exciting, right, and so
I just started doing the Miz and then the Miz.
They liked Miz more than they like Mike, and I
was like, Wow, this is this is fun. And then
afterwards I remember going back being in my dad's condo
and being like, what do I want to do for
the rest of my life?
Speaker 10 (13:10):
Like, what do I want to do I want to
go back to college my.
Speaker 12 (13:12):
Bio and have business classes that I literally was like
getting DS in and not really doing well in because
it was college and it was fun. And so I
was like, you know what I'm gonna I'm going to
become a WWE like superstar. I'm gonna try that. So
I went on I went on the on my computer.
I looked up like wrestling schools and there was one
in Louisville, and there was one in LA.
Speaker 10 (13:34):
And I was like, I'm going to lay I'm going
to La. Kidding me.
Speaker 12 (13:37):
But I didn't have any money because real world doesn't
pay like. I made nothing on the real world like legit.
I went bankrupt.
Speaker 10 (13:44):
On the real world.
Speaker 12 (13:45):
I spent all my credit cards like because I was like,
I wanted to live the life.
Speaker 10 (13:49):
Right I'm in New.
Speaker 12 (13:49):
York City for the first time, had a credit card
blasted blasted, Oh.
Speaker 10 (13:53):
You guys want drinks, here you go, here you go.
Speaker 12 (13:56):
Great city, Oh my god, the best or the worst city,
best or the worst?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Expensive but awesome.
Speaker 12 (14:02):
Very expensive. And I lived in like a three story
like mansion. I'll never have a house like that in
New York ever again. Because it was unreal, and so
it's funny. And people always ask me like, is it
really real? Is it really real? Like that's the number
one question I get with Real World Wrestling everything Is
it real?
Speaker 10 (14:19):
Is it real?
Speaker 12 (14:20):
And I always say Real World was as real as
you can get on TV because there are cameras around.
There's cameras around you twenty four to seven. But once
you have a camera around you twenty four to seven
for a week, it just becomes a part of life
norm and it's the norm, and so then you just
start living your life and that's the way it is now.
Speaker 10 (14:36):
Is there editing? Is there? Music? Is there all these
different things?
Speaker 12 (14:39):
Yeah, but the experiences that I lived there were one
hundred percent true and so I uh. And whenever people
tell you like, oh, they edited me wrong, they did
this wrong, they did this dirty on me. Usually those
are the people that they weren't themselves on the show.
They try to portray a character or a character, and
then they watch the show and they don't see the
person that they are or they don't realize who they are,
(15:03):
and then they see it and they're like, well, that's
not me, and it's like, hmm, that's the way you.
Speaker 10 (15:06):
Were on the show, so I don't know, you know.
Speaker 12 (15:11):
So then so then I got on a challenge because
I didn't get paid anything, right, they offered a challenge
to me, and I was like, oh my god, a challenge.
Speaker 10 (15:18):
Yeah, I have to win this thing because I need money.
Speaker 12 (15:20):
So I ended up going on the challenge, winning the
challenge and moving taking all that money and moving to
Los Angeles, paid for a rent, paid for. People are like,
would you would you you? Would you buy your big
What was the first thing you bought? I was like, well,
I bought wrestling classes so I can learn how to
learn the artifessional wrestling, acting classes, improv. I went to Groundlings, Improv, Olympics,
(15:43):
and Second City. And then I was like, I remember,
the only way I I could afford like a workout
was like through like muscle and fitness like magazines, Right,
I'd buy a magazine just find the workout, and like
I had a nutritious that came in there. I had
to pay them a hundre dollars a month in order
to get me like the right foods that I should
be eating to really lock in my body. And so
(16:06):
that's kind of all the money that I spent on WW.
And you would think since I was on the Real World,
the most popular show in America at the time, that
WW was like, hey, come on over to WWE.
Speaker 10 (16:19):
But they weren't.
Speaker 12 (16:19):
As a matter of fact, it was a negative like
if you were on a reality show, you were not
Like Hollywood didn't want you.
Speaker 10 (16:27):
You weren't allowed to go on like auditions.
Speaker 12 (16:29):
Now nowadays it's like, oh my gosh, you have a
fan base, Yes, come on, let's do it. Oh you
have social media, you have this, you have this. Influencers
are like, oh like everything. Back then, there was no
way you were an anomaly. Yeah, nobody wanted you because
you were taking one in Hollywood. You were taking jobs
from actors, real actors, Like, you're a no talent hack
(16:50):
all you're on you're on a reality show. You're what
have you done? You lived your life in front of
a camera? Congratulations, you have no talent. So I want
to to obviously prove them wrong. Chip on my shoulder
kind of like you had. And so I just kept
going and kept working, kept working. Every time I would
go out to a club, people wuld be like, why
do you want to be a wrestler? You want to
(17:11):
be a wrestler, you want to be a wrestler. You
know who was always supportive anytime I'd go on a challenge.
The castmates of the Real World. They could have been jealous, right,
they could have been like, oh whatever, they were so supportive.
They would wear like I saw that WW did a
lot of merch, right, so I was like, I'm gonna
make my own merch and WW will see that I
can sell merch. And if I can sell merch, I
(17:33):
have a fan base, I have an audience. I'm doing
all the acting, all the improv, all the wrestling school.
They'll see me and they'll want to try to give
me a tryout. And that still wasn't the case, but
I was going to try to do it. And whenever
I brought the merch onto the challenges, they all would
wear my shirts, would all wear my logos. They would
always ask me to do promos, and they was so
(17:54):
supportive and they didn't have to be.
Speaker 10 (17:57):
And now you will see that no.
Speaker 12 (17:59):
One's allowed to do that anymore because I ruined it
for everybody. No one's allowed to bring their own merch
on TV show on the Challenge, Yeah, because now they
do that, like they didn't have that back now I
ruined it for everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Fucking the Wall Wall West back then you killed it.
But think about it, you try to find it.
Speaker 12 (18:14):
Like it's like with football, right, I imagine you find
all the tools you could possibly do to succeed when
you were going for your tryout for New England or
when you've got drafted what seventh round, Like you weren't
making that team, there's no way you were going to
make that team, but in your mind you were and
you were going to use every tool you could possibly
do in order to make sure that you made that
(18:35):
team whatever it possible. Was same with WWE. You need
to find every single tool to find to make sure
that that you're a no brainer that they have to
take you. And it took three years, three years of
like going on the Independence and uh, you know it's funny,
Matt Light. I wrestled for his foundation.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Matt Lfe Foundation, Shout out my life.
Speaker 10 (18:56):
Matt Light Foundation.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
So he was shoot out.
Speaker 10 (19:00):
By the way, Matt Light, thank you for.
Speaker 12 (19:02):
Actually booking me, because no one would book me.
Speaker 10 (19:04):
I was having a hard time on the indies to
try to do it.
Speaker 12 (19:07):
And he had this show at like maybe it was
like the Roxy in Boston, and by the way, everyone
showed up like that was one of the cool moments.
I was like, oh wow, like all the almost the
entire offensive line, Brady was there and it was just
a show at the Roxy and I was a part
(19:28):
of the show. They flew me out to Boston to
And this was like in two thousand and two, before
I was in WW, I was on Real World but
was not getting booked, and I got to meet everybody
and hang out with everybody, and it was awesome because
if you could see why they're winning super Bowls, like
they were friends.
Speaker 10 (19:46):
They were hanging out with each other.
Speaker 12 (19:47):
You know, that's how you build a bond, That's how
you build a locker room, and like that's how you
win a men, how you have a winning mentality.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
One thousand.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I mean you willed yourself to become in a WWE superstar.
I mean acting class, wrestling school, nutritionist.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I mean people don't.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I hope people understand how hard it is to chase
your dream. And it's not everyone. Whenever anyone says, oh,
I would give anything to be in that guy's shoes,
you wouldn't because you had the opportunity to. You want
the lifestyle you want the lifestyle, you don't understand the
grit and the hard work it took for you to
(20:32):
transform yourself. Because at that time, like you said, first thing,
I first thing I said when I went when we
got you on the show, I was like, man, it's
so crazy that he became from the he came from
the real world and now has been in the WWE
for twenty fucking years and has been like no one
even knows he's part of the real world now.
Speaker 8 (20:54):
Becky Lynch on becoming a villain, did you.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Love being like the heel?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Because I loved being a villain when I would come
out because I felt, you know, like you're going out,
you're proving people wrong, you're proving what you know. I
would always go and fucking do my little heel thing.
When I go to another stadium, I'd run a hundred
yards and I fucking fist pump over at the crowd.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
They'd be all booming and shit. I embraced it.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
You know, you go to New York City, you go
to Buffalo, these people hated you, you know, but I
fueled off that.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Did you feel off? Oh really?
Speaker 13 (21:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (21:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, wow?
Speaker 7 (21:26):
Because you can do no wrong, right, Like.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Because you've got this freedom, it's when you're what a
burden to be liked by everybody?
Speaker 7 (21:35):
You know what I mean, like to be you put.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
That standard on yourself. Yeah, you know, but.
Speaker 5 (21:40):
That's your job.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Your job is to be the babyface, the good guy,
to have people root for you. And so when you're
when you're the bad guy, like great, you get to
make people hate you and that is your job. And
so you can do no wrong. You can say whatever
you want, you can do whatever you want, and inevitably,
(22:05):
when you're doing that, you're having more fun. So then
people start to like you, so then you become a babyface.
But then you're saddled with them needing to like you,
so then you're restricted and then your freedom goes away,
so then they start to boo you. So then you
start having fun because then you're the heel, and then
you can do no wrong, and then they start to
(22:25):
cheer you again because you're having and it's just endless.
Speaker 7 (22:29):
It's just this endless cycle.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (22:32):
Do you have any favorite like specific moments or things
that you got to do while you were playing a heel?
Speaker 6 (22:37):
Oh gosh, oh, I really liked going to cut Bianca's hair,
you know, but then she turned it around on me,
just because like I kind of wed. We led up
to that so much, and I think people really thought
that it was gonna happen, and they were so mad
(22:58):
about it, you know, because beyond gays is this cool,
awesome braid that she's able to do just amazing things
with m Yeah yeah yeah, but but.
Speaker 7 (23:09):
But then she turned it around and then cut my
hair off.
Speaker 8 (23:12):
Scissors in the ring is always fun.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I like that.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
I'm very scary, very scary.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, because she was like ko
ding me way too close to them scissors, you know,
could have been very dangerous.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Don't run with.
Speaker 7 (23:27):
Cut a lost and on. My mom was right all
along real quick.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Before we go into our next segment, what's it like
being married to another w w E star?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Like do you guys?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Are you guys at home like on and off night,
like practicing moves on each other and stuff like, hey,
on this DT that I got to execute next week,
Like can you can you come over here like just
fucking knock them right?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
No?
Speaker 13 (23:55):
No, not really, not really that, but like suppose there
is like so he's got a wrestling school in in Iowa,
and so like anytime when I was coming back.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
From collegiate, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, and uh
don't really get many of them coming into the school anyway.
And but yeah, so so I get in with him
and and wrestle around with him, and you know, like
he's he's amazing, he's just so so good. So uh
(24:29):
that's that's just awesome, Like you couldn't get better, you guys,
couldn't get a better partner. And then he's like he's
just got such a great mind for it, and he's
so sweat and now this is just gonna end up
in a whole tribute to how great Kobe Lopez aka
Seth Rollins is. But he's just he's he's he's so awesome,
and it's so great to be able to talk about
wrestling or not talk about wrestling. And but really, like
(24:52):
run an idea. The one thing I think, the one
issue we may run into is that like he's a
no seller, Like he doesn't sell anything right like like, so,
so I'll be all hyped up about this idea that
I have and then this is gonna happen, and this
is gonna happen, and this isn't that the best thing
you ever heard?
Speaker 7 (25:11):
And uh and he'll be like yeah, and then what
you know and.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Then a round of applause.
Speaker 7 (25:17):
Please you know? But yeah, no, it's it's it's the best.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
It's the best.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
That's fucking awesome.
Speaker 8 (25:24):
Now we got Rick Flair on how he took over wrestling.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Who's this? Uh?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Vern gane vern Ganya Gan tough as hell? Tough talk
about the training because I remember you. I saw something
where he made you guys do this training and you
said it was the hardest training ever.
Speaker 10 (25:39):
Oh my god.
Speaker 14 (25:40):
Well, first of all, Ken Battero is what I knew, vern, right,
But Ken Pattero was training for the seventy two Olympics,
and Ken and I lived together. And when Ganya said
to me, I knew his son real well, and said
you want to come to the training camp too, And
(26:01):
I said, yeah, ship, But I was three hundred pounds,
I could total sixteen forty and the power Lives I
was just training with. Can I just got you know,
big in it? So I'm thinking, yeah, I'm thinking of
Dick the Bruiser and the Crusher. The first day out there,
we trained at his farm out Wise. That a two
(26:24):
mile run two mile run in a cornfield, right, five
hundred free squads, two hundred and fifty push ups, two
hundred and fifty crunches.
Speaker 10 (26:36):
How long do you think it took me?
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Twelve hours?
Speaker 10 (26:40):
Huh?
Speaker 14 (26:40):
Twelve hours seven seven? Yeah, I mean you were three
hundred pund Yeah. Wait, I hadn't run a mile and
I was a freshman in college.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Seven hours I quit? When did it become easy? Did
it ever become easy? You keep on doing it? It
took me three months. I quit twice.
Speaker 14 (27:00):
He but Verne came over and got me literally slid,
as I says, thirty for thirty. He literally slapped me
across the face to throw me out in the front yard.
That you've quit everything you've ever done in the libry
and quitting me, Okay, it was.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Brutal low now now was that? I mean that was probably.
Speaker 10 (27:19):
You think about that. You know how your wheelbarrow? Right?
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (27:23):
Up?
Speaker 14 (27:23):
Twenty two flights of stairs? Are you kidding to hold
the guy's legs and you've got to crawl like this
shoulders and then you carry him down? Oh my god,
that's like some Navy seal ship. Oh yeah, you would
not imagine. Remember Brian Oldfield, the shot putter.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah, it's a little before I wasn't the shot putting guy.
Speaker 10 (27:42):
But no, but you know the day right, Yeah, he
lasted in one hour? Gee, he walked on there. Screw this.
Speaker 14 (27:50):
No, you know so many pro football players have tried
to come in in the old days. Yeah, Otis says,
struggling for the guy from the Raiders. Yeah he lasted
an hour. Who was the guy in the Steelers that
was shooting the gun? Played with me and Joe Green in.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
That shooting the gun on the Steelers?
Speaker 14 (28:11):
Can't anyway, he came, he lasted the day. So and
where was it at at his farm? And where farming?
Speaker 10 (28:20):
Wise? Out of Minnesota?
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Minnesota? Yeah, so what time of year is this? You
said it was cold?
Speaker 14 (28:27):
It was, well, the Olympics were over in September. When
trained October, November, December. That I had my first match
in January seventy three, and nobody told us what to do.
No one told you, what said, what do we do
is just go out there and do what I taught you.
Speaker 10 (28:46):
What was that? Mey?
Speaker 1 (28:49):
So you were in had a good shape though you
were in shape.
Speaker 10 (28:54):
Yeah, that's somber an issue for me. It's just toning
it down. I never knew when to go go to Betty.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 11 (29:07):
You played football at Minnesota for a minute, right.
Speaker 14 (29:10):
I was freshmen, weren't eligible, but I played. Yeah, yeah,
I would have. I would have started my sophomore year,
but I they put me in summer school.
Speaker 10 (29:18):
I lasted two days and got in my car.
Speaker 14 (29:21):
There was no cell phones or anything back then drove
Chicago to see my friend at the Worts family that
are owned the black Hawks and the Bulls and all that.
And they did on the Bulls and it before they
sold Majera Reinesorf. But my parents thought I was in school.
They had no idea where I was. So I kind
(29:42):
of like went into my own life when when they
put me in boarding school. Yeah, fifteen, street smart, hitchike
to Miami three times. That was exciting one fifteen years
old hitchhiking down the road.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Now, what do you say to someone when you're hitch hiking, Like,
how do you wave them down? Give me the pitch
if I'm driving down the car fifteen.
Speaker 10 (30:06):
But you have to remember, all this is in the sixties.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Regardless, you got to I've never even heard of this
like this, And so they stop and there figure out.
Speaker 10 (30:15):
Yeah, that's Cristy. Yeah.
Speaker 14 (30:17):
Four girls from Michigan State picked me up and I
went all into Miami with them.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Wow, that's like the movie Dumb Dumber. Yeah, it was coming.
Speaker 11 (30:28):
By Hawaiian Tropics girls.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Oh my god.
Speaker 10 (30:32):
Yeah, ron Rice, ron Me and Ronnie. I've had fun
with him.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Now, who are some of your wrestling heroes? When you
you meet Vern you start training, who are some of
the guys you idolize that you wanted to form your
style off of.
Speaker 10 (30:47):
Il Dusty Roads?
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Dusty Roads?
Speaker 10 (30:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 14 (30:50):
Yeah, Vern said to me, why do you like him?
He can't work? I said, I said, I just I
think he's the greatest.
Speaker 10 (30:58):
You know.
Speaker 14 (30:59):
He was so was madic god looking dream was.
Speaker 10 (31:03):
One of one of one kind. Hard Times put me
through hard times.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Rick Claire put me through hard times.
Speaker 10 (31:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Who's the Who is the best wrestler to go out with?
Speaker 10 (31:14):
Uh?
Speaker 14 (31:15):
Party with? Yeah? Which decade?
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Start eighties?
Speaker 14 (31:21):
In the eighties, arn Anderson, I had a ball and
then I've had so much fun with the Undertaker.
Speaker 10 (31:29):
I lost two old legs watching with the Undertaker.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
I love the Undertaker.
Speaker 14 (31:35):
He's the best you get Drake Jack daniels Man, Oh
Jesus does Paul Bear go out to No, Paul Bear
was real calm, yeah, but Taker and I would tear
your apart.
Speaker 10 (31:47):
My god.
Speaker 14 (31:48):
We used to go into European tours where they let
us stay overnight in each town.
Speaker 10 (31:54):
What that was rough?
Speaker 14 (31:55):
What was the best town in Europe? I have to
say the towns in Germany were the best. Germany, yeah,
Ingland was good, to Manchester, London, I wasn't too crazy
about Italy. Spain was okay, but then but the best
trip is so Vince calls me and says that you
(32:21):
and tak Her are gonna go wrestle in Japan and
then from there you go to to London right for
subate and then to take her and I take off
and go to Japan. He wrestles, Kurt Angle, I wrestle.
I can't remember where wrestled. Then we fly to London right,
(32:42):
and then we flew home and we got so screwed up.
So we apparently landed in Chicago right, and.
Speaker 10 (32:54):
He put my arms.
Speaker 14 (32:57):
The clean up crew woke me up, mister Flaire, you
have to get off the plane, and I said, wait,
where are we?
Speaker 10 (33:05):
And he just he left me with my hands over.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Like like Undertaker put you in the casket. Yeah, he
puts you in the casket.
Speaker 10 (33:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 14 (33:14):
Uh yeah, he had some good times undertaker.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Now you were the driver for Andre the Giant.
Speaker 10 (33:21):
Yeah, I drove Andre for a year when he was
Jon Frere. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 14 (33:28):
Now I took him to Chicago and all that he was.
I'd take him to see all the bar it was.
It was tremendous.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Now what would you drive him in?
Speaker 10 (33:37):
Made?
Speaker 14 (33:37):
He sat in the backseat in my car, big guy.
Oh say, well, he wasn't as heavy than when he
first started. He was like when I first met him,
he was like four probably four twenty four thirty, But
then you know, he eventually got to five sixty Jesus Yeah,
like auld Drake boy.
Speaker 10 (33:55):
Yeah, so you've never seen anybody like that in your life.
Speaker 14 (33:58):
I've heard a hundred. I've heard a hundred, one hundred
and six ers. I saw him do it?
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Is he the best drinker of all time?
Speaker 10 (34:04):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 14 (34:05):
He drank a goddamn seven forty seven out of every
bottle of vodka on the plane. I mean, other people
are getting served too, but boss, more vodka.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
You don't have any more? He caught it.
Speaker 10 (34:24):
Bring me something else?
Speaker 11 (34:26):
Was he even getting drunk or was it just no?
Speaker 10 (34:30):
Can you kidding me?
Speaker 11 (34:33):
Thanks for listening. Remember to tune in every Tuesday for
a brand new episode and every Sunday for another Games
with names highlighted
Host
Julian Edelman
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Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com