Exclusive Backlash Interview with Jacob Fatu

24:33You know what I mean? It was with Uso and them. I met Joe. I'm sorry. I met Roman, man, when I got a little bit older. You know what I mean? I met Roman, got a little bit older. But, man, we was always tapped in. On another note, when I actually got caught up, man, I mean, when we were juveniles, got caught up out here in California, you know, they sent us to Florida. and I got sent and I was living with Roman Reigns' sister. You know what I mean? So, man, she brought me in. So, that's what I'm saying. This match is more than just us being related. Like, his sister took me in. Like, I was there when he played Georgia Tech, when he beat the number one and number two college football teams, when the man Miami and Auburn, and they went there.

25:14Like, I was there. I was there when he was over there tapping in. You know what I mean? So, and it is her. It is rough, folks. I'm not going to sit here. Yeah. Man, you think I want to do that? Man, y 'all know y 'all see interviews of me. Like, y 'all see how loving I am and this and that. But, man, y 'all really think I want to go? Y 'all really think I want to do this? But, man, I love my kids and my family so much. Okay? He did it to Jay and him. Okay? So, I mean, what? What? What am I wrong now since I want to get right? No. Am I wrong because I need to level and upgrade my household? No, no, no, no.

25:50We've seen this before. Like I said, when history been repeating itself, which is always repeating itself. But this time, this time is different now. Now, 2006 now, man, he did all that like four years ago.

26:06O'Shea:Yeah. You know, come on, man. Now, the very first time we spoke to you, it was after 41. you talked about that moment you also talked about coming down the ramp and you know you took the mask off a little early just so you get the feeling now going into your second mania by the way undefeated at mania not bad undefeated at mania I saw there was a clip of you having a moment to yourself after getting that victory can you let us in to what was going through your mind then and is that part of what's fueling you to the very next PLE. Now you're going for the world title. Let us know about that mindset.

26:54Damn, what was it when I was walking up the ramp? No, no, no.

26:57O'Shea:After the match, they showed you you had an emotional moment after your match at 42. So you're hugging Jimmy, I think, in the back. Yeah, you had that. It was Shane Roberts. Man, bro, yeah, it was different. Man, it just hit me. everything hit me right when I walked. I don't know what it was. I've seen, I've seen 18 in the back. I've seen everybody in the back, you know, had a good, had a good moment with Hunter. And, you know what I mean? Just walking. Cause if y 'all know backstage, bro, our locker room, hella far from gorilla, bro. You know what I mean? I was actually, I was actually Bruce Pritchard even got hot.

27:33I mean, we didn't get hot, but you know what I mean? I had to return his go-kart. I took his go-kart, bro. I was mobbing around like more Charlotte. But I took his go-kart. But anyways, it was a far walk. So I didn't take the go-kart this year. I mean, out of respect for OG, kept his go-kart there, his go-kart. But after H, after Gorilla Man, I took a walk. And it was about a little far walk. And, you know what I mean, after all that, just getting out the ring, still breathing, still just sweating. But it's feeling good, man. But just taking that walk, you know, I was just by myself. And I was just, like, locked in.

28:08But I thought about everything, you know. Man, there's one thing about me, bro. I think about where I came from every day. There's not a day that goes by. Trust me. I think about it this morning. I think about where I came from every day, what it could have been every day. And I think that's what it motivates me and it keeps me, you know, not saying I want to forget about those days. No, because I just remember what I don't want to go. And I would never go back to that, especially being here. Would never go back to that. But, man, it was I thought about everything. I tapped in with everything.

28:39And then when I sat down, I'm just like, before the interview even cut, I'm looking at the cameras. I'm looking at the people in suits. I'm looking at Sam and I'm looking at my gear. And I'm just like, damn, like, fuck, like, you know, like, bro, we really here. So it was. And not only that, it was special. My wife's never my wife's been with me forever, man. I've been with her for a long time, brother. I mean, if anybody deserves something, it's that woman that deserves something. And so she was actually there for the very first time at a WWE event. And it couldn't have been no better at WrestleMania 42.

29:14So, yeah, I mean, I think that's what it was, too, because I seen her in the crowd and, you know, shit. Well, no, I'm sorry. She was all the way in the box. I mean, but I knew where they were at. So it was good. It's different, man. You know, it really is, because especially when you got kids, I'm not saying if you don't have kids, oh, you don't know. No, everybody's life is different. That's fine. But, you know, having having a other people now, man, I mean, like what Roman said, like, you know, we're all different. But we are responsible for a lot of people. You know, I'm responsible for 10 or 12 of my people that just my intermediate kids.

29:49And I mean, just I'm responsible to make sure they're good. Roman is responsible for our whole family. And, you know, I want to go touch bases on these promos. These ain't no promos, bro. Like, people are writing for us, you know? And I wouldn't even say promos because it's not. Like, this is real stuff, real feeling. And everything Roman is saying, I know I'm going with him at Backlash, but just to tap in, like, it is true to that. To where he is, he is have to worry about 170 of us. You know what I mean? He was the one to wear the door. Yeah, and we all came through. You know what I mean? So there's no lie.

30:26There is truth to everything that we are saying. you know and i wasn't playing you know i'm gonna milk every dollar and every cent just like how this company did our family for decades i mean so yeah we really locked in and tapped in around

30:40O'Shea:here right and that's that is why any time the any member of the family is going against another member it is always box office it is always something special because it may be personal but it's only personal because we family. There's no hate behind it. It's just business. Yeah, it's just what I got to do. You know I got to do it. So, like, you know, even what I'm keeping an eye on is while you got Roman in front of you, you know, you know that's the goal, man. You know, he didn't really have too many kind words for Roman or you, you know, on SmackDown. So, you know, we keep an eye on that, but it is.

31:24O'Shea:Jimmy and Jay as well. Yeah, like, you know, it's just things to watch besides the one-on-one. And, you know, is that on your mind or you just got to stay focused on the prize? Well, no, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's different now when we all show up at different times compared to riding together. You know, it's different now. Now we're all not at the same hotel. We're not even flying out the same plane. Like, so, yeah, I mean, come on, man. I mean, yeah, I feel weird. But at the end of the day, I mean, it ain't like I haven't been through this before. Oh, trust me, bro. Yeah, I could slap you and hug you right after that and tell you I love it.

32:06I mean, like, it is different, you know? And that's the thing about it. But, man, when it's go time and we understand the purpose and the direction of what I want, no, no, no, I'll take this back. what I need, man, brother, I mean, it's cookies from here. You know what I mean? It's all gonna be Gucci and Gabbana. You know what I mean? Like, it's a whole nother vibe in a whole nother direction. I mean, man, people are feeling it now, and they better feel it. Because, man, if you ain't feeling this, then, man, you know what I mean? Then you ain't rolling. You ain't rolling right with us. You know, going back, talking, you talking about growing up in Atlanta, you know, it just came to my attention that, you know, Ted Turner passed.

32:50I'm born out there, yeah. I was only here for a couple years. After that, right back to Cali. Ted Turner passed away today. I was like three when we left Atlanta. You know what I mean? I was just born out there. Ted Turner passed away today. Of course, when you think WCW, you think him. What are some of you... I guess the boiling down question I have is this. I went to watch Michael the other day and I was like, wow, man. I actually was able to live in the world that Michael Jackson lived in. And I'm thinking like, what other people can I think of that? Like I can say I was alive during their, during their time.

33:30And one of the names popped into my head was Andre the giant. Did you ever, I know your, your pops, I think tagged with them, had some interaction with Andre. Do you ever have any memories of meeting Andre back in the day when you was a kid? Man, hell no, man.

33:48Nah, I mean, man, that would have been dope. I mean, come on, man. It would have been cool just to meet a lot of them. I mean, man, bro, especially an icon like that. I mean, come on. I do remember my dad saying something about Andre. Like, you know, he loved to play cards. And, you know, man, he was a big cat. They said he was really – he had a good relationship with Roman's father, Sika and my uncle. So there is some cool pictures, though, that my grandmother and my uncle Rikishi have of Andre and them backstage. So that was pretty cool, man, but never really tapped in with him. Of course, Andre, tag team champions with Haku.

34:30Man, come on. That's scary. Man, I think I picked both of those guys. That was part of your five.

34:38O'Shea:Yeah, see? We got to talk about his five. Gotta be top three ever on the show. Yeah, it's still illegal. Especially when I got Harley Race on there, bro. At the end. Come on. Andre, Andre Haku, you, Umaga, and Harley Race? Yeah, that ain't fair. Come on, dog. I ain't gonna lie. Probably would have took me out and added Brock in there, though.

35:03O'Shea:Listen, man. We are major fans of you. and just you always you said that you always remember the things that you've been through and i you know people there's some people that believe in the mindset of never looking back but you gotta know where you came from to know how far you done came you know so it is it is truly a joy to watch you be successful man like it is just because everyone feels how genuine you are and how real you are. So to every bit of your accomplishments, I know that smile behind there is real. You probably got to wait till you get in the back. I know you got to be mean. Yeah.

35:44O'Shea:But like, you know, it's real. I just want to let you know you are appreciated, man. No doubt. But show, hey, big brother, I just want to show y 'all something too, just to show y 'all like, you know, like I really do appreciate the little things, bro. Bro, I mean, I got my face on a truck, dude. I don't know if y 'all can see it. I don't know if I can see it. Yeah, it got a little more. Oh, I saw a glimpse of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, come on, bro. Listen, a lot of people might just look at, nah, bro. Like, trust me, that's a big accomplishment. I mean, these are things that I grew up seeing faces on trucks.

36:19So it could be something small. But, man, brother, believe, bro, when I did see that truck, bro, I took a selfie right in front of that thing. Yeah, what that feel like? You get to the spot that day, you got your bag, I'm sure you're walking, and you turn to your left and you see it. man and you know the cool thing like uh so that was the that was one of the first ones but me on that same one it's me solo and uh tomatonga and tongaloa so man it was it was just a good moment right you know especially for all of us to be tapped in on there i mean these are the stuff that i don't take for granted yeah i mean i mean man even when i'm just just moving and group just Man, I just hear Fatou.

37:00Fatou's our real name. So, I mean, for the WWE world and universe, which I'm so thankful for, man, it started in San Antonio, Texas in WWE. It was already, you know what I mean, Fatou, baby, on the independence. You know what I mean? Right, right, right. But to be in WWE when it started in San Antonio at Saturday Night's Maid against Braun, man, bro, I'm just very thankful, bro. I mean, it makes my father happy. It makes our people happy, you know, to hear the world chant that name and, you know, to bring our name. It was already known, but, you know, now I'm legally able to use it, you know, in WWE.

37:40Didn't change my name because, man, I was supposed to be Cesar Ciccola. You know what I mean? I'm about to be a word. I'm about to be like Cesar from Planet X. Like this. You know what I mean? Yeah, you know what I mean? But, man, yeah, you know what I mean? Like Cesar Ciccola. So that was the name that you agreed? on for you and then what happened? So it was just the name. It got brought up. You know, whatever they had you know, whatever they did and you know, we at the end of the day, we made it happen and Jacob Fatu, baby. I mean, I'll never forget what Triple A said that. I mean, like, you heard your music yet?

38:14I'm sorry I didn't hear my music. I don't even know what my name is. Your name's Jacob Fatu. I was like, okay, for sure. You know, man, it was different. It was real different. You know, Hunter had a couple songs the song I walked out to is two different songs I took the beginning and I put it on the track that I got now if I could switch it they switched it shout out to the Uso if you're watching this who did the original version sorry bro I had to take you off and put my own 5-2 that's how I'm together overall I'm very thankful trust me it's so emotional them, but I'm so ready and locked in.

38:56You know, you might see a tear come down when I'm up in there with Roman. You know what I mean? I mean, I get at war games with my brothers and my family. Locked in, main event, PLE, war games. I mean, man, we opened up the show, Crown Jewel, the six-man tag, three-on-three, Roman the Uses, me, Thomas, and Solo. I mean, man, come on, man. So, yeah, it's nothing new, but it's on a whole other level now, especially, man, if you're tapping in with somebody like Roman Reigns. Man, come on, man.

39:24O'Shea:Now, I got to ask you for real. I need to know the real how you felt about this. Yeah. Take me to that first time because, you know, you've been doing all gas, no brakes with it. You know, you've been doing that for a minute. But talk about the first time you kind of heard the crowd do it with you. What was that electricity feeling like, man, when you heard the WWE crowd hitting some stuff in the Bay? I saw, man, they came with it. I will never forget. It was after JC Mateo tapped in after he debuted. It was in Lexington, Kentucky, bro. Out of everywhere. I'm like, damn, Lexington. But, man, bro, when I came with it and I was all gas and they came, you know, mostly everybody says, all gas, no brakes, and they stopped.

40:16But, man, they came on with the whole, all gas, no brakes with it. Y 'all know what I mean? But I buy you when I came back, I haven't really been saying it. I've been saying it. But in that Monday after WrestleMania, my never said it like that. I didn't plan on saying it. It wasn't in it because when it comes to us, there is no script. All right. I want everybody to understand this. If you think, you know, and I don't care if you've been in the business and you work for WWE, I ain't over here no more. You know what I mean? Like, the writers or producers or whoever. Like, bro, there's no script.

40:54This just comes live and direct with it. You know what I mean? So, when I did say that all gas, no brakes, what do you got to do? I mean, two roaming into the Usos. Oh, brother. Man, when they came with it. Okay, yeah. Oh, they would. You know what I mean? It's another feeling. It is. And I'm just glad I got to really explain the all gas, no brakes to them. throughout these couple weeks, you know, because now it's a whole nother meaning, you know, and I'm glad people actually understand what it is. But not only that, man, it feels good. My people back at home, Northern California. I mean, I feel good when I hear that.

41:32I mean, they're like, damn, bro, you didn't take it. But listen, once again, this goes back to not being a character. This goes back to just me being me, Jacob being there's no other way. This is what I'm saying. It's not scripted. There's no there's no other way how to I don't know how to do it. be anything or do anything besides be myself. So yeah, when you guys see me out moving and grooving, off the top, I'm going to show love and respect. That's how it is. But man, brother, when it's go time and we in that ring and them lights come on and then that switch comes on, oh, you can't tell me nothing.

42:02You can't tell me nothing. All of a sudden, nobody gave a damn about me on the independence. Nobody cared about me then. You know what I mean? Nobody was giving me the luxury then. Oh, Jacob, Jacob. But now I come here, I start tearing it up and I started getting in where I fit in. Huh? Now, now, now everything. And this is on another note why I feel some type of way sometimes. Okay, where were you? Where were y 'all? Where were you at? Okay, since I don't want to tap in with y 'all, now I'm acting different. No. What was everybody else for that 12 years when I was struggling with my kids? Huh?

42:33Did nobody else care besides my wife's family and my parents? Did not nobody care about Jacob Fatu? Man, this is why it's different at Backlash. And I'm sorry, man, for getting hot. But man, me sitting here just thinking about it, talking about it now? Oh, man. Come on, bro. That's why the pain, the tears, everything with Roman, it's different, man. And I know I keep saying that, man, but y 'all gotta really tap in and understand the direction for one. I'm not speaking to y 'all two losers, you know what I mean? I'm letting... I need the viewers to know and to understand this. Like, this isn't put on a pair of tights, go out there have a good match.

43:15No, bro. We really make a living out of this. We are learned and taught on how to respect the ring. How to respect the ring. How to respect people backstage. These new cats coming up, they don't get it. They don't understand what it is. They think being on the phone and posting the good stuff, posting a good life. I want to see somebody post the bad things happening. When everybody get their food stamps, everybody posting a good old plate. How about having nothing and just posting a plate? Come on, man. What are we doing? You don't got to fake it till you make it, but damn, bro, be real with yourself.

43:58I feel like this is what got me over here. Me having a good heart, but me understanding where my position is. I've been playing my role and playing my position and staying in my own lane. Rest in peace to Nipsey Hussle. I remember he said that, Stay in your own lane because there's no traffic in your lane You know what I mean Tapping in But now I just feel like And I know and it's not Phil I'm sorry let me take that back I know it's time for me to jump out this lane And jump in another one

44:27O'Shea:And that's why You can't write for that No disrespect But I see the writer's room I'm not writing for that Not that It's just that realness that people just connect so much to you with and people will see through the BS I mean we are wrestling fans if anybody see a lot of BS it's us so when we see the real it's right there but I'm also a brother that comes from a big family who grew up with you know didn't have a lot so I also understand what he's saying on a different level than just the wrestling part of this and you know you brought up the people who feel like I want to get his opinion on a little idea me and you talked about you know you brought up the people who feel like they know so much about the business you know the people online that got this that and the third to say I said every PLE they should set up a ring on the outside of the arena and let people run the ropes let them ropes burn up on you a couple of times and kind of see how something as simple as that could cut you up the whole day take a bump yeah take a bump one.

45:40Oh, no. Hey, set up a ring. Have them come in the ring. All right? They don't even deserve to take a bump. Just see if they can take a punch to the face from us. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, just see if we can just punch you in your face and see how that feels. All right? They don't even deserve to step in the ring. All right? These cats don't deserve to be nowhere in the ring. None of these cats. You know what I mean? He told us. You had to wait a month and a half. Yeah. Hey, hey, you can take this. You all right. All right. Hey, I've been punched. I've been beat up. I've been jumped. I've never been knocked out, though.

46:22All right. I've never been knocked out. But, yeah, hey, it's what come with it. But I ain't going to sit here and complain. No, hey, I'm glad I had a black eye. I'm glad I got punched. I'm glad I got beat up. All right. It made me for who I am today. But, no, I didn't go online like the rest of these cats, putting their feelings. Hey, man, if I want to give some advice to anybody, stay off of the internet. It's fake. Kill everything with a smile. Man, just do the right thing when nobody's looking. Trust me, man. If you just keep your mouth shut and keep grinding, keep going. And this is somebody who's already here who I read bad comments about me every day.

46:58Hey, brother, don't let it get in your head because my check still clears every week. All right. Hey, brother, we ain't tripping no more. So thanks for the support. That's what's up. Yeah. You know, I was going to bring this up later, Jacob, but because you just said it now, maybe jumping to this question, you do the right thing when no one's watching. There's a video I think of like last year, maybe two years ago, I grew up, Lex Luger was my guy. People say whatever they want to. Now I'd never seen nobody built like Lex Luger. I'd never seen nobody look like him. I'm from there, Penn State. I knew he played football there.

47:31So I thought Penn State, I thought Lex Luger was like, you know, and then he had his accent where now he's in the wheelchair. And there was a video of you just took it upon yourself. He was struggling. You took his wheelchair, you folded it, you helped stick it in his car. And then you, and I guess you guys hadn't even talked because you were just like, hey, I'm one of the Fatus. I was walking. Man, it's just how we are. I mean, man, bro, it's just how my uncle, my parents and them raised us. It's how they raised us, dude. That wasn't, and you know, my boy, he was, I didn't want him to do a vlog, but he, you know, shout out Stone P.

48:10He was just walking. I was on the Independence, and you know what I mean? He just thought it would be cool just to, you know, I was like, all right. And, you know, I'm sitting there talking. I see a wheelchair, and I see, listen, I'm a wrestling fan at the end of the night. So, dude, how can you not help Lex Luger? You know what I mean? Right, right. Like, I'm like, oh, man, that's Lex. Hey, OG, man here, I'm going to put your wheel. he didn't even know who I was until he started looking at me. And then I just had to tell him, you know, I'm Fatou's nephew because that's how they knew my uncle Rikishi back in the day, you know, because they was the head shrinkers with Yokozuna.

48:41So, but man, bro. And once again, if y 'all know me, I don't post stuff, stuff, good stuff that I do. People just will catch it. You know, that's just me being me, bro. Because at the end of the day, I got seven kids. They better know, they better know how to treat people, you know, and my kids understand that. My kids understand what we have now because what we went through. And so, you know, my kids understand how to say, yes, sir. No, ma 'am. You know, they know how to walk in front of people and say, excuse me. You know, they know when not to speak. They know when, you know what I mean? But it's because, man, we raised them right.

49:18You know, I mean, we got to keep God first. Got to raise them right. Because nowadays, we're not going to get into it. But it's a lot. It's too much going on. It really is. Nowadays, bro, you got to tap in with your kids. I'll tell you one thing. I'll tell you one thing. My kids don't have this. I'll tell you one thing. My kids only take this to school. They come back. They don't have social media. None of that. Because none of that means nothing. I made it here not off of social media. I told my kids. And they know. Daddy didn't make it here because of social media. They don't like me because of what I know.

49:49They understand what we've been through. And I feel like this is why people gravitate towards me. I'm not going to sit here and act like I had a great life. act like I had a horrible night. No, I made just wrong decisions. I come from a great family. My parents are great. They're still married. They're still together. And I love my people. You know what I mean? But it ain't how you start. It's how you finish. You know what I mean? Trust me. Bro, those days I wanted to quit. I just talked about this on another podcast. I had a WWE tryout. It didn't go the way I wanted it to because my background they just they said I would never work here.

50:24William Regal, Matt Bloom, Norman and Smiley. They pulled me back. I'll never forget William Regal. I'm not saying you will ever work here, but just keep going. Because it broke my heart, bro. WWE, maybe I wasn't ready, but I know for sure it was my background. So what did I want to do? Me not knowing? I never had a chance? Damn, now I never... Man, shout out to William Regal, Matt Bloom, Norman Smiley, man. They just told me, man, keep pushing. We're not saying you will ever have a job here, but just keep going. And then Regal will email me and tap in with me throughout the day, throughout the years.

51:04Obviously, there was something there. But yeah, man.

51:07O'Shea:That's just them trying to see how much he wanted it. Hey, man, you stayed on the path for this long and didn't go back. That's all they needed to see. Also, keeping it real with them, too. Right now, this is probably not going to work, but you keep grinding. Yeah. Sorry, it was not to cut you off. You know what it was, too. We had a tryout. And then they said, hey, at the third day. If you got a felony, you will never work here. You will not work here. If we like you, we hire you, we find out you have a felony. You know what I mean? I already knew. I wasn't going to fake the fuck. Did I think about lying?

51:40Hell yeah, I thought about lying. Come on, bro. Look at me, bro. You're like, nah, he picked himself. You know what I mean? I'm not saying they were looking at me like that, but come on, brother. You know what I mean? I mean, so I stuck with it. I told the truth. And once again, this goes back to my kids and me being a father. I can't teach my kids one thing and I'm doing another. I mean, so I had to tell the truth. I mean, and I spoke about it and I'm glad I did. Not only that, they was going to find out one way or another. I mean, it's the right thing. I mean, so through you. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and I'm glad it worked like that.

52:18I'm glad I told him the truth because I couldn't even imagine me getting hired then oh what three weeks later yeah oh bro oh it would have been yeah it would have been bad okay you come in the office oh yeah or or no how about this or how about this jacob just stay home yeah or jacob don't even come in today you know what i mean but but what i'm trying but man and you know what uh so i didn't realize it until you just said that damn bro yeah i did stay on the growing that long. Damn. Damn, bro. You just really opened my eyes, bro. Thank you for that. Hey, this is a homie

52:53O'Shea:conversation. That's what it's supposed to do. We don't like to call these interviews, man. We just chopping it up with people we like. But Jacob, you spoke about stay home for the day and that brings me to the family, right? You got seven kids, your wife, Elizabeth. Real quick, though, the ages of your kids, what do they range from? Oh, man. Man, my My oldest is, man, he just left for the military last week. So he's doing good. He's 20, pops 20, 17, 16, 14, 13, 9, and for four. All right, baby, I got a whole team. Y 'all, y 'all, bro, and a bench. And a bench, right? So let me ask you this, right?

53:37Like, you got a day, nothing on the WWE. One of the rare days that WWE doesn't have anything for you. You know, your oldest son, let's just say your oldest son, before he would have left home, you have all seven of you see just sitting at the crib, right? What would be a perfect day for Jacob Fah 2? You don't have to worry about work. You just get to dust the dawn. You get to do whatever you want with the family. I mean, man, if they know, I'm tapped in with my kids, bro. I mean, if I catch late flights leaving every Thursday, sometimes I don't like connecting flights. But, you know, to get time with my kids now because the schedule was wrong.

54:16I mean, WWE's schedule was way different than what it was, you know. So I'm actually very happy to be home a lot, actually, now than what it was. But a perfect day, bro. I mean, you got to go. So, I mean, we in the South now, man. You know what I mean? So, bro, we got to go to Waffle House. You know what I mean? Yeah. We don't want to steal someone else's question, even though I feel like our questions got to be. Yeah, but we ain't going to steal nobody's Waffle House. But, yeah, so go ahead. Hey, it was for sure. But, you know what I mean? I try to take my kids. I mean, I remember I was being a little bougie, too, when I first got the job.

54:49I wanted to take them, like, you know, go eat some steak or spaghetti. You know what I mean? Try to do something. Man, they just want to Waffle House. You know what I mean? So I'll take them to Waffle House, man. I'll definitely take them to the movies. My four-year-old, bro, he just, he manny, bro. I mean, he running everywhere. So it's really everything for the kids, man. My kids don't want that much, bro. They don't even really care about Nike, Jordans. You know what I mean, bro? I still take them to Walmart or JD. You know what I mean? My kids don't really trip over anything. They don't trip over phones.

55:19They don't trip over clothes because my kids understand. You know what I mean? Man, we came from that turning them lights on, bro. Them roaches in the kitchen. You know what I mean? And I can speak about that because my kids understand that. You know? So I'm very grateful for my kids not even wanting a lot. You know what I mean? Like, trust me, bro. So when we first moved out here, it was hard for us to sleep in the room, my kids and everything. We slept in the living room for one month together. You know what I mean? Because that's just how we've been living our whole lives. You know what I mean?

55:47In one room and one mattress. You know what I mean? With my sister-in-law. So right now, a perfect day. Oh, bro, especially with a little bit of gouda, bro. Oh, it's definitely a good day. You know what I mean? Yes, sir. So, man, bro, but it's really cooking. I'll probably come back home and just cook, man. And the kids love, my kids love watching movies. You know what I mean? I show them old school movies. You know what I mean? Adam Sandler, they really hooked on Adam Sandler. Just showing them life with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. You know what I mean? They over there tripping on. Take a look.

56:16Take a look. Take a look. You know what I mean? So, man, it's just, I enjoy just showing them old school movies because I'm a movie guy. You know what I mean? My kids love movies. I was lacing them up, showing them Blockbuster. You know what I mean? I was showing them, man, before Netflix, we had to go to Blockbuster and Hollywood video. You know what I mean? Right, right, right. Just showing them that, man. Just showing them a lot of old school stuff, you know, because they think all the stuff that we have is new. Like, even with the AI, like, I had to break it down and explain that to them. So, you know, just told them, man, man, you guys are very blessed.

56:49You guys are very – they're in a good position right now. But I understand it wouldn't be – well, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for God, Jesus Christ, man. So just thank you, though. Thank you to the man above, God. That's good.

57:00O'Shea:That's good. Now, being a second generation man myself, TJ, I got to ask, is there any of your younglings that... Do you look into wrestling a little bit or do you catch them watching a little bit more than the other ones? My girls. Well, no. One of my sons, he's really into it. Man, he's a football player, but, bro, he really tapped in. You know what I mean? He liked the bag. Yeah, John Wright. He my 13-year-old. My 14-year-old, he like it, but, man, he like Paul Heyman, like Nick Aldis. Out of the mind. Yeah, you know what I mean? But my girls definitely, my kids don't watch it around me. I didn't even really think my kids used to watch me until I actually got here.

57:46I think they started watching me because they see their uncles on TV. I'm dad and uncle when it comes to them. So my girls definitely, my 15 and my 9-year-old. I'm going to have them for the first time with me at Backlash. This is how special this moment is for us and our families. We're all going to have our families there. I mean, and it's overall, it's just going to be a beautiful moment for me, my wife and my kids. And, you know, just for our whole bloodline is going to be there this Saturday. It's happening in Tampa at Backlash.

58:19O'Shea:Yeah, man, I my my my girl, because I got an eight year old and yeah, I had to catch her watching. She ain't want to like you see me watching it every week. You don't want to just like sit with me. One day he we and him were on the phone together. Right. and then he goes, hold up. And he gets quiet. He goes, yo, let me call you back real quick. I'm like, what's going on? And then you tell him what you saw. Because we was watching Resident, but I kept hearing like, I know I'm hearing another match somewhere. You know, I'm like, I know I'm hearing something that's not the TV. And I'm talking to TJ and I look and she on her iPad watching CM Punk versus Drew McIntyre, Hell in a Cell.

58:58O'Shea:On her own. On her own. Yeah, so I had to record and I had to send it to TJ and I told my sister. She was like, yeah, that's probably like her fourth or fifth time watching that match. She said, she called me and be like, auntie, what's the match with the blood? Yeah. All right. Man, it's so cool though because that's how my wife told me the girls were watching it. She was like, I think the girls keep watching wrestling. My wife don't play. They don't have their own sign-in. They all signed in under one email so she can see everything. So she go and she like, bro, they're watching it. But I think it's cool now because it actually brought me and my girls.

59:39You know, I'm already close to my kids. But now I'm showing them old school stuff. Bro, I just showed them May Young getting powerbombed through a table from Bubba. What did they think of that? Hey, I was like, so y 'all going to be doing stuff like this. on another note, I want to throw this out there. Rest in peace to my Uncle Umaga. And rest in peace to my Uncle Roman Reigns' brother. Uncle Matt Onawaii. Rosie. And Jamal Umaga, a.k.a. Jamal. Three-minute warning. So, three-minute warning. And we're talking about people taking some good stuff. Lillian Garcia took a pop-up. She took the best pop-up Samoan.

1:00:28Y 'all remember that? It was like she did it with one step. Rosie threw her. It's funny. I was such a fan when she came back and I met her. Is it okay if I get a picture? I told her she took the best pop-up Samoan. It was pretty cool. I just wanted to throw that out there. Shout out to Lillian.

1:00:52O'Shea:When I was a kid, that was the one move all them pillows got. He's right. Three minute warning was giving it to everyone. Women, it didn't matter. They was getting messed up. Yeah, bro. Bro, that bitch off. There. Evil man. Evil man, that bitch off, man. Three minutes. You couldn't even say it around him. He started tripping out. Oh, that's funny. Hey, you know, there's one thing, you know, before we run out of time, I think we got a little bit of time left for you. This is just personal for me, right? I guess I'm going to use this to stroke my own ego. when we saw you in Stanford for the WWA 2K26, it was right after our John Cena interview came out.

1:01:32And when you came into the room, you were so hyped about how good you thought the interview was. And we were, you know, we were getting this reaction there in Stanford, which was dope. We was big dogs. And then you brought up how dope you thought it was that me and Cena wrapped this theme song together. And so I was at that moment, I was reading some comments on social, which I shouldn't, that were pretty much positive. But there were a great deal of people who were kind of clowning me or mad at me because we would rather him did it on his own. Like, why'd you have to ruin it? And I'm like, you don't understand.

1:02:09I asked the man. I asked him before the interview started. Right. And he goes, well, let me see. I guess he wanted to see how the interview goes. Yeah. When we got to the end of the interview, I brought it up again. And he goes, well, normally I would say no to this, but there's three of us. Let's do it. So we did it. And you came in and you hyped me up about doing it. And I was like, you thought it was all right. And you were like, yo, that was dope. And I can't tell you, man, how you and Paul Heyman back to back telling me that. It washed away, you know, a couple hundred tweets that told me I was an a-hole or like I ruined it for him.

1:02:45So I'm going to just say thank you for that, man. Yeah, man, you read a hundred of those? He can't help it, man. I get yelling at all the time for it. But yeah, so when you said it, that made me feel like, all right, bet. No, love, love. Hey, man. Who's up? I just told you, man. Everybody's doing this now, all right? Yeah. Good point. Hey, who's not? It was genuine. Man, trust me. It was like, because nobody's done that before. I mean, he said it. He said he usually says no to it. And you did it. Come on, bro. It's never going to happen again. You know what I mean? Right. Yeah. And one of his guys that helped set it up for us, he came in, he congratulated us on the interview, said how much John loved it.

1:03:29He showed us a text, you know, whatever they need. And he turns to me and he goes, I can't believe you got him to rap. I'm like, what do you mean? He goes, do you understand every podcast he goes on from Charlemagne? If it's hip hop, anywhere they know that has to do with music, they all ask him to rap. And he always says no. He goes, I can't believe you got him to do that. And I was like, well, I never met TJ before. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? You know what's poppin', mate? You did it, bro, big bro. You did it, mate. And then, look, that's cool. Heyman said something, too. I didn't know that.

1:04:05Yeah, right. Back to back. So I felt real good about that. Yeah, man.

1:04:08O'Shea:If you didn't take that moment, that's like Jordan shooting some shots, and he passed you the ball, and you just pass it back. No, you go. Yeah. So I should put the ball in the rack now? We're done, Mike? He's done. Get a shot up. Right there, dude. Yeah, so I appreciate that, dog. That meant a lot to me. Yeah, man. Hey, how you feeling? You got something? Well, you know, we already hit them with the bar fight question before. But I do, I don't know if we asked you this before. No, not the DeLorean. I don't think you did. Okay, so Jacob fought, too. I think it goes without saying, brother, that you are family of no contest, right?

1:04:44especially when we cut this out you know we're ESPNCW is like what we like to call ourselves being the only wrestling podcast on ESPNCW yes sir ESPNCW so you know when you come into LA you know you already got a crib to stay in I'll tell you where the spare key is let yourself in go to the kitchen put your feet on the couch whatever but in the garage right we got a little something that we have in the retarp and that's a DeLorean machine you know from back to the future

1:05:11O'Shea:so I'm gonna let you We're going to give you the keys to that, but you've got to do something for us, right? You've got to go back in time, Jacob Fatu, and you've got to pick five wrestlers from any era that you would want to have a WrestleMania dream match with, a main event. Who are you going to take that DeLorean and either go to them, scoop them up, bring them back, or go to their time and have that main event with? Oh, man, that. I know one of them right now will probably be Bron Breaker. Okay. Yeah, because there was that moment. There was that moment. Yeah, I know one of them will probably be Bron.

1:05:52I know Bron for sure. I don't know what it is about him, man. We don't really talk that much. He be back, but I'll be seeing it. I'm going to keep it 100, yeah. Sometimes, I know Brodbeast. and got me feeling some type of way too. Hold on now. So yeah, definitely Brian. And not only that, with his father and his uncle, they were really good and really close. That's a great bloodline right there. Yes, bro. So shout out to them. I really respect his father a lot every time when I see him. So it's cool to see him and his uncle as well. So definitely Briker. Man, I ain't gonna lie, bro. I'll be playing him a lot in the two-game game.

1:06:38Macho man. Savage. You know what I mean? I play him a lot. Yeah, I play him a lot over there. Definitely Jeff Hardy. He's one of my favorites. You know, Jacob, not to interrupt you, one time somebody asked me about you when you first got to the main roster, and I said, imagine this. Imagine if Umaga and Jeff Hardy had a baby. That could be Jacob Fatu. Am I off on that? That's scary. Well, yeah, I'd rather take that than Mae Young, dude. No, but, hey, I don't know. Get it twisted now. Ms. Mae Young was beautiful, and she was going hard and crazy. Mark Henry said she was the toughest woman in the world.

1:07:24Yeah, absolutely, man. And, you know what I mean? But, anyway, shout out to Ms. Mae Young, man. Rest in peace, sir. Braun, Macho Man, Jeff Hardy. Yeah, Jeff Hardy. and you named one of them and it's great. I don't know how it would have came out, but definitely my uncle, Mago, man. Definitely him. I would have did something with him, but hold on. Maybe, hold on. Let me name people outside my family. Okay. So, Jeff Hardy. You know what I mean? Who else we got? Brian. Macho. He's a broad, macho, Jeff Hardy. Man, what was OG's name? Oh, my God. Just Mr. Perfect. Yeah, I would have tapped in with Perfect and then And, man, I don't know.

1:08:05I always feel like what me and Brock Lesnar had looked like. You know what I mean? Yeah, man, that's probably definitely them. I mean, that's not – I wanted to pick people that wasn't my family. You know what I mean? So, yeah, definitely those five, bro. I like that. I don't know. Yeah, definitely Breaker, Mr. Perfect. You know what I mean? Jeff Hardy. Macho. Macho. Macho, man. And then who else did I say, bro? And Brock Lesnar. Oh, yeah, and Brock. I mean, yeah. So, that's them, bro. That's the fire right there. And that's just me just thinking off the head, though. I mean, no, really, that shit, though, for real.

1:08:38Because I love Mr. Perfect, bro. Mr. Perfect had dope matches with my cousin, Lance on Hawaii's father, the great Samu. And Mr. Perfect had a great match with my uncle Rikishi. When he came back, they did a match at Sunday Night Heat. And I just always enjoyed his work, dude. Can I share a Samu story with you real quick? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm from Altoona, Pennsylvania. We had matches at the Jaffa Mosque. I'm in, I don't know, I want to say seventh, maybe eighth grade. I'm sitting in the stands, sitting next to a woman. It turned out to be either his wife or his girlfriend at the time. So I'm trying to act like I know what I'm talking about, but without marking out too much.

1:09:13So I'm asking her little questions throughout the matches. And then she says to me, well, would you want to come meet him afterwards? I'm 7th, 8th grade. I'm in Altoona. I don't, like, these people aren't real to me. Right, right. It's a dream. Yeah, and so the last time I was at home this past summer, I took a drive-by and I took a picture of the exact spot. I believe it was a white minivan. And he sat there with the side doors open. And he let me sit in there with him. And he talked to me for like 15, 20 minutes after the matches. And I went to school and I wrote, because I was on the school paper, I was a journalism major.

1:09:46And I wrote a story about that night, which I have no idea where that is. But so Samu always has a place for me because he took time to take this goofy little kid who was marking out about wrestling outside of the Jaffa Moss and Altoona and just sit me down and like answer whatever remedial seventh grade questions I would have, man. So like I never got to see him again to this day. But every time I see him, I think about that. So there's always some love and respect for Samu from me for sure. Nah, bro, man, man, right on, man. That means a lot for me. and especially I know how my uncle is, man.

1:10:22My uncle always been nothing but loving. And, man, if anybody's underrated, if anybody was pretty good, man, who's my uncle Sam, man? Samu was, man, brother, instead of saying, like, you know, hey, watch this, watch this, you know, he used to pick people up, give them that spin super kick. He wouldn't even tell them. He'll just tell them. He'll just tell them, pick their head up and be like, forgive me, and then turn around. Bam. You know what I mean? yeah my uncle Sam told me the story he said yeah one day I seen Buddy Rogers like laying down or Terry Gordy somebody was like sleeping at the airport and he had a lighter and he lit his pants on fire that's not a joke no no no yeah the crazy thing like these guys back then like I was like oh man like like bro we fighting right for real

1:11:14O'Shea:like bro what's the punchline This is assault. I hope so. You know what? I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivgardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T myway.com. And talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hattrulo. Brought to you by Argenics. O, O, O, O 'Reilly. Check engine, ABS, or maintenance light on.

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1:12:25It's cool for you to even speak about that, and thank you for sharing that because, I mean, there's no other platform. I mean, you could have said it on anything else better than this platform. So, man, now he doesn't know, but he'll definitely see it now. So thank you, bro. I know it'll make him feel good. I appreciate that, man. And it's funny, when you were naming your dream opponents, I always like to throw an extra name out. Yeah. And you said the name. My extra name was going to be Terry Bam Bam Gordy. So it was just wild when you just now said Terry Gordy. Yeah, he was. Terry Gordy was a beast back in his day before, you know, he ran into some troubles, but yeah.

1:13:00Nah, nah, bro. Hey, man, it's just dope, man. I really enjoy, like, the way how the old school wrestlers looked too back in the day. I mean, like, there wasn't nobody here. all muscles. They weren't body guys, you know? No, but they were fucking banging it out. Yeah, for sure.

1:13:17O'Shea:Man, from, you know, from your start at 18, going throughout the Indies to now, you know, you talked about that TV that you watched. I'm sure when you had your injury, dying to get back here, can you take us a little bit before I let you go? What was going through your mind during your time off? You know, that time where you recovering man i i you know what i'm i ain't gonna sugarcoat anything uh like i had to slow down i'm i'm just i'm glad that caught it uh you know shout out to my wife for actually having me i needed to go get it looked at you know it would have affected my heart it would affect my brain you know i never got no teeth pulled out so that's why it was it it was major that's why we did i feel like i missed out on opportunities, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter because my health is everything.

1:14:11You know what I mean? I can't take care of my family if I'm being stubborn about this. So if anybody's watching this, man, just make sure y 'all go take care of that. Check it out. I didn't know. I was green. I didn't know about none of this. I mean, but when they looked at it, yeah, it was bad. I got 11 or 12. I got 11 teeth pulled out. I mean, they're all back. Yeah, this is my real teeth down here. I mean, so I got all my shit in the back, but it was all through the back. I mean, it was all for me. What? What? Smoke. Being younger. Smoking new reports. All stuff. I never took care of it. And it opened up my mind like, bro, now I'm starting to think about my health.

1:14:50Now I'm starting to think about, okay, I'm young now. I do this now. But if I don't take care of this and really tap in with my health side, then my kids will lose. You know, they're going to lose me. And so it really opened up my eyes on how to health-wise, taking care of my body, doing this, doing that, okay, just taking it easy because, you know, I'm not young no more. So it is different. You know what I mean? This is why I give respect to Randy, to AJ, to Cody. I mean, these are cats. You know what I mean? Having lost a step in brother, they still look great. You know what I mean? So taking stuff, learning from them is a very big, a very, very big thing.

1:15:31So that process of being home after the teeth got pulled out, it was different, bro. Looking at my kids, I was here with my kids all day. And I got to really spend time with them and tap in with them, you know, because I was on the move. But it was some days that did get hard, you know, like I meant hard as in like I didn't want to just be home. But I need to be home. And it was like, why try to hurry up and come back and rush back? No, when you come back, enjoy this time off, but also get your mind right. Because when you come back, oh, man, it's go time. It ain't going to be the time like this.

1:16:13You're not going to have you're not going to be able to afford four months off next time. What? I barely get a week off, but it's OK, man. It's OK. It's work. This is what we've been wanting. okay this is what we've been praying for this is what this is what i need to be busy to be gone to to be away it's it's a good thing you know so it was a little different and then yeah it was different watching war games man it was i felt because i was supposed to be in war games you know yeah i was supposed to be in there and then i think about it damn what if i would have had a moment with brock in there yeah i mean what if i would have had a moment well yeah i mean and i think about it, but at the end of the day, I'm not going to dwell on it, and I can't.

1:16:57Now I got to make sure that I execute now, you know, and when I did come back, it did feel like something. That's why when I spoke earlier, I wasn't saying all gas, no brakes. I was trying to stay away from all that because it was different. And keep it 100, I kind of already knew what I wanted when I did come back. Came back in January, I kind of knew we was headed this way a little bit. I didn't know when, I didn't know where or wartime, but I knew, whether Punk won, Roman won, or whoever, I knew it was time for a change. That title's on Raw. I've been on SmackDown two years. I had to try to figure something.

1:17:36I'm not saying I'm on Raw now. No. I'm still doing both. It is what it is. I'm not complaining. I'm not, no. Like I said before, we love this beautiful, this great life that we live. I mean, I'm not living like the Tribal Chief, But, brother, I'm living a whole lot better than I was doing when I was staying up in those public houses. I'll tell you that. But it slowed me down. It made me regroup. And, man, it just got me back better on my health. Brought me way closer to my kids. But, man, when it was time to run, bro, it was time to run. So from being out in October to coming back in January, yeah, now look.

1:18:17Now look. You know what I mean? Absolutely. think we're going in a big thing but to tell you the truth i needed that i didn't even know i needed that break until i actually sat my eyes down and i needed it so you know my wife said things happen for a reason yep and i that happened for a reason it's saturday man the mindset that you had

1:18:36O'Shea:in the beginning got you out of your situation all the way to wwe you with this new mindset now that you in it we can't see how far that this thing takes you man you've always got support from us. This Saturday is the first step in many for Jacob Fatu. We will be watching, brother. Thank you for being here, man. Before you go, I'm just I got to know, man, on Saturday for this World Heavyweight Championship, are you willing to do anything it takes to become a new champion? Man, I'm bringing my wife and my kids. not to see me wrestle Uncle Roman, not to see their dad wrestle a PLE.

1:19:28My kids and my wife are going to be there because they're going to understand the beginning of a new life and everything that comes with it. So yeah. Yeah, I am willing to do everything and I am. backlash. It's a whole nother move. Yeah, it's a whole nother move, backlash.

1:19:53O'Shea:There you have it. Yes, sir. Yo. Come on, TJ. That's what I'm talking about. Come on, TJ. That boy, Jacob Fock, too. You're not getting this nowhere else. Come on now. He made us feel good with some of the questions we were asking. Oh, that was good. You know, because we not only can we sell it. Yeah, yeah. You know? But we get a little personal. A little personal. You know, throw you some alley-oops, you know? Little softball tosses. Get that out of there. We make sure we treat our guests nice. That's right. Y 'all know what we do. We run the gamut of emotions. That's so good. How you gonna make a tough man a little tear?

1:20:29You know?

1:20:29O'Shea:A little tear? You know? He's right here with it. He's right here with it. I remember seeing Jacob. I think he was the MLW champion. As you know, we've gotten MLW. Shout out to our buddies at MLW. He was champion for over something like 800 days or something him when I first really got to know who he was and I remember when he came to WWE I was telling people you ain't ready for what this brother can do man he's showing improving each and every week. Yeah look I didn't want to bring it up you know during I just felt like it was a little out of place but I know everybody's talking about Oba and Roman.

1:21:03O'Shea:Yeah. Oba and Jacob I don't think there's an arena safe Nah. Like are you kidding me? Nah I can't wait for that That is like, you know, if you know Jacob, he got this thing, you know, Godzilla vs. King Kong. Were he both? I don't know, man. Because I've seen Oba beat his chest a few times. And my goodness, either way, man, that dude, when you know his story, when you know what he's been through, when you just take the time, if you can, take the time to look it up. Because the man could have a 30 for 30. Also, man, I'm glad we were able to ask him those questions about him putting in his work as a kid.

1:21:46Because ultimately, that path kind of got him to where he is today. It was an unfortunate path, but he seems to have turned it around. And someone's going to look at that, and hopefully that'll change someone else's life.

1:22:00O'Shea:Yeah, because how many stories do we have of people not turning it around? Oh, so many. You know, it's always the trope of like when people are released, that, you know, we'll see you when you come back, you know, that type of situation. But it's a lot like when my kid, when my daughter, I always tell people everything I do, I do for her. And everything I don't do, I don't do for her, you know. And it's just so refreshing. And it's so good to have a story of somebody recognizing their blessings, recognizing the people that depend on them. And then like change it up. And yeah, like I said, man, it's hard not to root for that guy.

1:22:41And it's amazing when people can bet on themselves,

1:22:47O'Shea:which brings me to my next point. Okay. Because people who I feel like had the idea of betting on themselves

1:23:00O'Shea:personified was... I know where you're going with this. The New Day. Yes. You know, the new day, I believe it was July 24th, 2014, if my research serves me well, where we saw Xavier Woods go in a ring with Kofi and Big E after they finished their match. and he kind of had a call to arms moment, which led to the creation of one of the greatest tag teams WWE has ever seen. I know for certain it is the greatest black tag team. So it holds a certain special place in my heart. And, you know, Xavier Woods bet on himself. Yes. with Kofi, with Big E, so much so that in a conversation he had with Vince McMahon, he bet his career.

1:24:01O'Shea:He said, if this doesn't work, give me four weeks with a microphone and I can get this crowd to boo Kofi and we become the new day. And if it doesn't work, there are plenty of call-ups that deserve my spot. I never heard that story. Yep. Bet on himself. and these guys became one of the beacons of joy in this company that we love of wwe and remember they started off as heels though yeah exactly they started off that way and they didn't they didn't think uh you know people wanted to boo kofi and and xavier made it work and you know we know where they went on with the multiple tag team title runs and and kofi getting Kofi Mania and winning the title.

1:24:49O'Shea:Big E winning the big boy as well. Being on that short list of black superstars to win the WWE title. Xavier Woods, when they brought back King of the Ring, that first King of the Ring was Xavier Woods. That was something he said he always loved. He brought it back. Success. A lot of people want to talk about Xavier Woods and not going on a single title run. His title was The New Day.

1:25:22O'Shea:When Big E had that accident, a lot of people thought that that was kind of the beginning of the end. And they still found a way to, you know, it was a little bit more of a sympathetic situation because we all were waiting for E to come back until we got the news that it's probably never going to happen. and I can't help as a fan to just like you know like I know what we spoke to Xavier Woods ourselves and he said you know even though we were faces New Day were kind of bullies you know they made fun of people they like they they poked fun at you made you look ridiculous and so when they went on the heel run you thought like all right you know they started off as heels maybe this would be a nice little refreshing thing for them and they kind of had the wrestling world in their hand when they had that 10-year anniversary and you know they kind of trashed Big E and I can't help but acknowledge that it went nowhere and I don't know the inner workings of it I don't know who's the finger that you know that gets the finger to point at but I know it is one of the most unfortunate things that I've heard in a long time that they are gone from the company without even being able to say goodbye except through Twitter I feel like I'm repeating myself from the R-Truth situation you would think whoever's back there would learn from that and what reports are being out there is that it's from asking them to reconstruct their contract and at the end of the day this is a business but i mean like in something that's predetermined it's kind of hard when you tell me that i'm not doing this then the third when you're supposed to write the map for me and so it it's just something that i want to bring attention to because of what they mean to people what they mean to me personally and it just didn't feel right going on without saying a word about the new day the new day that needs to be respected and treated as the legends the walking legends in wwe that they are and it is it is troubling to think that even they are safe and it makes me worry i'm i can't lie to you it makes me worry as a fan you know we hear we hear that WWE is the hottest it's ever been.

1:28:03O'Shea:Well, like, you know, are you so hot that we're starting to burn down the foundation? It's just something to think about. You know, I don't know who's in charge of what or what goes into, you know, the suits decisions. But I mean, like, that's a key piece that is now missing. fans are I don't know whether you judge it based off merch or reaction it doesn't help that you give them you give a bunch of superstars a bunch of music that sounds the same by the way never could get around to that new New Day song I just feel like they deserve more and word in the IWC now people always say oh such and such fumble they fumble they fumble we failed the New Day and it sucks and the beauty of wrestling is this could all be a work I don't know man I just know as a fan it does not feel good to have to read a tweet that one of the greatest factions of all time is now just completely gone you should have been there moment now when you look at obviously Kofi and Big E They're on that short list of black superstars that have won the big boy.

1:29:26O'Shea:You think about the pioneer that Xavier Woods is and teaching superstars that you can bet on yourself. You can not just wait for things to be handed to you, the script to be handed to you. You can write your own path as long as somebody listens and gives you that opportunity. But even if you're not in ring, you can do something like up, up, down, down, which pretty sure to date is still the fastest growing celebrity video game channel of all time. They got to get his book a world record record for it in 2018. He showed a change in the game. Bringing money in from a way that's not just in the square circle.

1:30:14I just feel like those dudes deserved to ride off into the sunset

1:30:20O'Shea:in front of all of us. And now I don't know what's going to happen. Wherever you guys are, we will support you. But I just wanted to take time and give you guys your flowers and to speak on behalf of fans and say that, man, we love you guys. We appreciate you. And best of luck on your future endeavors. We will be there. New Day rocks. You know, I was in the building. It was SummerSlam 2015 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was a fatal four-way for the World Tag Team Championships. And at that point, the New Day were still heels. But in the weeks leading up to that, you'd start hearing a pop.

1:31:02People were starting to get behind them a little bit. And I remember the New Day sucks chants at that show at SummerSlam changed to New Day Rocks and they became the tag team champions and then they went on from there. But it was like, you know, remember they were in a choir when those opening kind of promos, you know, and you were like, what is this? You're in dress clothes. That wasn't going to work and it didn't work, but they were able to flip it and that's the hardest thing to do. I've said this to you before. The hardest thing to do for a wrestler for me is if I initially don't like you, the chances of you flipping it to make me like you are very small.

1:31:40You got to do something. They did that with everybody. And they made the New Day what they were. They made them household names. And just think, like you spoke of Xavier Woods. The man got a trombone over.

1:31:52O'Shea:Come on. Shut up, Francesca. Rest in peace. He had a trombone, and the trombone was over. People chanted for Francesca. And then everything they did from just the bootios to the colorful outfits to all the anime and comic stuff that I never got that you, once we start doing this, you would start to like. Crossover ends of other video games. Yes, you would explain to me what this stuff was. So what they did was unprecedented. What they did was amazing. Kofi Mania, I said this the last time we were on ESPN, was one of the greatest WrestleMania moments of all time. Seeing Big E win was one of the greatest moments of all time.

1:32:31But I also, I listened to the fans, right? And once this happened, everyone on the internet was so mad, right? But my question to the internet fans is this. When they were trying to turn heel, when they were trying to do something different, did you really do your best to get behind them? Because you said it went nowhere. Why did it go nowhere? Because the fans could say, well, we didn't want them. Well, that's not the point. If you see these are your favorites and you see them trying something new, it's up to us to get behind it. Because what happens is they win a championship at WrestleMania to no pop.

1:33:05We were there. And it's just like, now you're angry because they're gone. But where were you when they needed us the most? When he was gone and Woods and Kofi were trying something new, man, you should have still been behind these New Day guys. Even if you didn't particularly love the direction, you've seen what they did. So you knew that they could probably make lemonade out of these lemons that they were given, but fans didn't get behind it. And now everyone's mad. now everyone's in an uproar you know people will sit and complain about the company right but then when someone leaves it's just like oh i can't believe they're leaving well you wanted them

1:33:44O'Shea:to not be there apparently right i mean and and there's a and there's also a layer to that where there might be a section of fans that are thinking like well i mean it's just a pay cut you know like they could have still been here but they chose to leave which is true i mean I've been given 10 plus years more than 10 years like yeah so like they have been given they've given the company their time from family their bodies all these things the stuff outside of WWE that they brought in maybe there's a world where they feel that I mean I know personally as a fan I feel like they were untouchable.

1:34:35O'Shea:They're legends. They're legends. They are walking history monuments. We're already robbed of Big E, his career. Now we're robbed of Kofi and Woods in the night? And look at the position that puts your booker in. We're seeing so many releases of people who are actually in the middle of stories. Kofi working with Javon we were dying to see that and with Tez coming back remember we got I wanted a triple threat we just had Woods on at the 2k thing he's coming back from injury you know like there were paths showed and just ripped apart because of what I get as a business you are in debt and you're trying to make your buck back I get it.

1:35:29O'Shea:I get it. But I swear, all I hear, you know, whenever you start a business, you're going to lose money first five years. What, you been here three, four? Come on, man. Don't touch New Day. That's just one of those fine Chinas you got to let breathe. Especially as someone who, how many New Day T-shirts did you see throughout the years? How many boxes of booze? There was a picture of Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher. And in her house, she had a box. Yeah. Yeah. Come on, dog. Like, bro, they're bringing in collabs with Warner Brothers, with Teen Titans Go. They're bringing in collabs with Xbox, with Gears of War.

1:36:10O'Shea:They're bringing in a new business. Those guys kind of seem like they are a walking phenomenon that aren't supposed to be there. They all were going in and they were misdirected, and they found each other and made it work and they bet on themselves. So I, as a fan, cannot feel any type of way where they are given a crossroad again and bet on themselves again. It sucks. It's not, it's never goodbye. It's just not wrestling. It's not wrestling. It's just never goodbye. But this is troubling because not only is like the new day gone, but now as a fan I don't need to know how y 'all do business now I know that y 'all are terrible negotiators and like what does that say to superstars who are watching who are thinking about coming here like what does that say sometimes you don't want to know how the sausage is yeah it's a it's a very slippery slope and on those slippery slopes a snowball can grow so it's just it's troubling but as our as we do have this platform and we've spoken up about releases a lot, things that hurt.

1:37:27O'Shea:And, you know, John Cena, we didn't just let him go off into the dust. We had something to say. We got microphones in front of us because we always got something to say. And so we wanted to make sure we shout out the new name. Yeah, for sure. Y 'all were, I'll never forget that Royal Rumble. They told us we had five minutes. They gave us 25. They gave us damn near 30. Right. They just didn't want to, yeah. Good dudes, man. And also, but if you want to put a bright side look to it, I'm sure they're going to continue. So they're going to go out there. Please go on tour. And they're going to make their money, and they're going to go wrestle in front of crowds who may not have gotten to see them in the past.

1:38:10There's a lot of dream tag team matchups out there in this wrestling world that we haven't had or that we haven't had in a while. And without naming names, I'm sure anyone that knows knows what I'm talking about and who I'm talking about. So look, man, from, I guess, the depths of despair, when things look the most bleak, you got to put the positive shine on it. And the positive shine is the new wave, maybe. You know, whatever. We're going to get to hopefully see some matchups that we wouldn't have otherwise got to see. And you got to look at that as a positive. Those two men are going to be all right.

1:38:50but I respect the hell out of Kofi Kingston. I respect the hell out of Xavier Woods. I respect the hell out of Biggie. And wherever you guys go, I know you got two fans here. And I'll tell you what Jon Voight once told me. This is a long story. You don't even know. This is the great actor Jon Voight. I was out of a job once and he happened to call my friend and I'm talking to him and he said, you know what? You're going to be all right. And he explained to me the reasons why I would and I'll just say that to them. The new day, y 'all are going to be all right.

1:39:19O'Shea:It'll be interesting to see Big E at the pre-show for Backlash and post-show. We'll be seeing that, but we just wanted to, let me get that wide. Let me get that wide. Shout out the New Day from No Contest Wrestling Podcast. TJ, tell these people where to find us. Well, if you want to listen, you want to watch, very simple. All you got to do, if you go on social media, you can find us at There's No Contest on Twitter. On Instagram, we're at No Contest Wrestling Podcast. on TikTok, we're No Contest Wrestling Pod. And if you just want to listen for your air gate, man, we're everywhere that you get your podcasts from.

1:39:57ESPN, Amazon, Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, you'll find us. And if you want to watch us, because why wouldn't you? Because I got this maroon plum suit on today. You go to the Rich Eisen Show YouTube page or just type in No Contest Wrestling. You'll be able to see every episode from one to this one, which I believe is 84. 83 or 84. I'm not sure. I'm going to double check. I think it's 84. But yeah, you'll get to see all of it. Everything that we've done right there on the

1:40:26O'Shea:YouTube page. On behalf of myself and my tag team partner, make sure y 'all have a good day, but not too good. Who the hell you think you are? And tell your mama we said Happy Mother's Day. That's right. By the way, call you if you can, if you have the ability, make sure you call the woman, send her flowers, send her a plant. Talk to her for our let her know you love her man because there ain't nothing like moms we're two mama's boys right here so i know what we're talking about i'm gonna call mine right now and as always bye miss parker you know where am i mom what you doing

1:41:10O'Shea:ryan reynolds here from mint mobile i don't know if you knew this but anyone can get the same premium wireless for$15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three-month plan, equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. Default terms at mintmobile.com.