Chris Van Vliet

22:08Steph McMahon:And it's the questions that you ask. Like you can hear the genuine fan, like what you were saying before. You're asking because you want to know as a fan. And you can hear that come through. So it's so helpful to hear a fan asking these people before I get to speak to them. Because I am very new to this world. Thank you for this opportunity. I'm sweating on stage in front of all of you. When you guys referenced me during the Royce Keys interview, I was like, wait a second. That was an interview I did like five years ago. He was amazing. Yeah, what a story. Right? Oh, I didn't even do that on purpose.

22:46Steph McMahon:That's the whole thing. So, Kristen, we're here to talk to you. Tell us about your story. You know, we talked briefly about your successes, but how did you get to this point? What are the pivots that happened in your life? What are some of the potential lows or things that you've had to overcome? I mean, really, you're a self-made man. and I think, you know, especially to win over the WWE audience is not easy. I should say the wrestling audience at large. They're the best fans in the entire world, but they don't just let anybody in. And you're kind of on the in-in. How did you get to this point?

23:25And we've got some of those fans here, so I just want to say thank you guys for allowing me.

23:29Steph McMahon:All these fans, yes. Yeah, small part of your life. Thank you. These fans, my family. Right. How I see it. Born and raised in Pickering, Ontario, so just outside of Toronto. And at four years old, I fell in love with broadcasting. I had a Fisher Price tape recorder with a little microphone attached to it. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. And I would pretend to be the radio DJs that I heard on the radio. So that's where I like... Do your parents listen to a lot of radio? Yeah. My dad is a massive baseball fan. Okay. Still to this day, he's a Blue Jays fan. Prefers to listen to the games on the radio than watch on TV.

24:03Interesting. Also, my dad and I go to a different Major League Baseball stadium every year. We've been to 26 of 30.

24:09Steph McMahon:Wow. Yeah. Very cool. Thank you. Very cool. Traditions are important. Absolutely. Yeah. So I always wanted to find a way to do something in broadcasting. In high school, I found out that we had a communication studies class where we made a TV segment in there every single week. Really? And we learned the ins and outs of like, one day you were on camera, then you were on VTR, then you were audio, Then you were floor director. And every once in a while, you got to be the talent. And I love that idea of being the talent because you got to tell the stories. I ran to be vice president of my high school because that was the person that did the morning announcements.

24:45And I turned the morning announcements into my own radio show. And it was like, good morning. I was like, what am I? You're that guy. I was that guy. And I hosted the talent show and I hosted the fashion show. So when it came time to pick a college major, and that's a crazy thing that at 17, 18, you're being asked, like, what do you want to do with the rest of your life? Like, I'm going to try to do this thing. I'm going to apply to be a communication studies major. That'll be what I do in college. And my whole idea was like, if I can try at something and fail, at least I tried. Right. So I'm going to school for communication studies.

25:19Steph McMahon:Did you have that mindset going in? Yes, always. I don't know where that came from, but like, I always want to be the person that would dive headfirst into something. I didn't check the depth of the water and check the temperature of the water, just dive right in. So when it came to my senior year and it's like, I was having a blast in college, living with four of my best friends, probably majoring in like drinking Labatt's or Molson Canadian. It came time to like figure out. You may have had better beer in Canada. I don't know. We do have great beer in Canada. I was going to say, it's not Bush Light.

25:50Steph McMahon:Yeah. The college budget can be rough. I remember it hit me of like, when we graduate at the end of this year, you got to go work 40 hours a week, five days a week for the next 30, 40 years. And in that exact moment, I decided I don't want to hate my job. At best, I would love to like, just not hate my job. If I loved my job, that'd be a nice cherry on top. But I hate my job. So I reached out to every radio station, every TV station in my college town said, I'm a communication studies major. I'm passionate about broadcasting. Could I just come in and volunteer and see how things are done in the real world.

26:26That turned into me getting a volunteer position at one TV station, being a board operator at an AM news radio station.

26:34Steph McMahon:And what's that like being a board operator? They paid me$8 an hour to like work the soundboard. And I was like, this is the greatest thing ever. And you learned how to mix. Yes. And you learned how audio worked. And then when my shift ended, I would go into the recording studio and read the news scripts and like start to create a demo reel. Then when that college year ended, I applied. Can I interrupt for a second? Yeah. Did you ever find your mixing skills and what you learned there? Did you ever have to apply it in a moment that was unexpected later in your career? I ended up being, when you're a radio DJ, you've got to do a lot of this.

27:09You do it yourself. Yes. You're doing it all. So you're answering the phone calls. You're talking to people live on the air. You're mixing in the songs. You're hitting things.

27:15Steph McMahon:I didn't realize you did it all yourself. Yeah. So my first TV job, I was applying for an internship. Nobody wanted to take me. I lied and told this small TV station in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, the home of Bobby Rude. I said, I'm going to be in town next week during spring break. Could I just come in and talk to you about a possible internship? They said, ah, we don't really do internships unless it's associated with a college degree, a college like credit. But what the heck, we'll bring you in. It turned into them giving me an internship. Two weeks later, they had me on TV as an intern reporting on news stories.

27:50And then you're doing everything. You're shooting the stories, editing the stories, writing the stories, producing the stories, and then also reporting the stories. So I was wearing all of the hats. Fast forward to a year later, I auditioned to be on a show on MTV2 Canada. That was really when I started to get my foot into the entertainment World. I interviewed my first wrestler there. Who? It was Bobby Lashley in 2007. And Bobby Lashley looks the same now. Of course. He did 19 years ago. He does my age. Yes. And that's kind of where it all began for me. That job in, that was in Vancouver on MTV2 Canada.

28:26You want to talk about struggles along the way. I picked up my entire life, drove my 1995 Toyota Corolla across the country from Toronto to Vancouver, 47 hours. And after a year, our show got canceled. And I had to figure out like, what do I do now? I don't have a job. And I was unemployed for nine months. I was auditioning for things, trying to figure this thing out. And where were you living? I moved back in with my parents. You had to. And just tried to figure it out. And finally, a show ended up coming along and figured it out from there. But it was also a point where I was like, should I, I was training to be a wrestler a few years before that.

29:02I'm like, should I get back into wrestling? No, the real passion's TV. And now I get to, like, do both. Blend, yeah. Which is so cool. Every once in a while, I did a rock bottom at Hornswoggle's indie show last year. And it's like, I can still do this. From who? I gave the rock bottom.

29:19Steph McMahon:Oh, you gave the rock bottom. Yeah, this guy named Brock. The rock bottom is a stiffer bump to take than people realize. Yeah, you're getting up there. Yeah. And depending on where you land in the ring. He's like, do you think you could do a move? I'm like, oh, yeah, I could do a rock ball. I got one. Let's do it. Better to give than receive, I suppose. For sure. Although I would take one if I had to. But what's one of your key takeaways from bumping? Like, you know, because everyone has their own experience with it. Yeah, and I trained in Toronto for a few months. It was in the summer between my junior and senior year of college.

29:51One of the biggest takeaways is running the ropes hurts way more than people think. Right. Way more. And then I woke up the next day with a massive bruise on this side of my back.

30:01Steph McMahon:And I'm like, oh, what the heck? The crazy thing is your skin like adapts. So when I was first learning how to run the ropes, and I'm not saying I was ever great, but I was purple from like here to here. I mean, just swirls of purple all down the side of my body. But eventually they go away and they never come back. No matter how long I'm gone, if I come back and I've got to, you know, again, And, you know, consider my limitations. You have another match? But I, you know, bounce off the ropes. I never get that bruising again. I don't know what that is, how your body adapts to that. That first bump I took, I'm like, this hurts more than you would expect.

30:40I feel like I had a small bit of experience. I was a backyard wrestler. Right, right. Don't do this at home. My name is Chris Sharp. Very inspired by Triple H. By Iron Mike Sharp? Oh. I just wanted to be like a sharp talk and sharp walking. Oh, okay. Sharp dressing. But I taped one hand and one wrist. Okay. And then the other just wrist. There's a guy you probably know who does that.

31:04Steph McMahon:Mm-hmm. That's a question you should ask. I'll show him the photo of that. You're almost in. So I had taken these bumps. We had like the thin blue gym mats. So I had taken bumps on that. When I got into the ring, I was like, oh, this definitely hurts more than you would expect. So I think that's the biggest takeaway from training. It was just that it hurt. A lot more. James Harrison was just saying the same thing. He's like, I couldn't believe how much it actually hurt. And to think that in a normal match, you're taking, what, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 bumps? So what's crazy is the adrenaline takes over, right?

31:39Steph McMahon:And it's, you know, I can't speak for everybody, but this has been my experience. And you really don't feel it when it's happening out there. You know, you feel it after. But so what was crazy for me for our talent was during COVID when we continued to produce our shows and they were performing live and having these matches in front of no audience. Because you guys are what give the energy and why it doesn't hurt. It's true. You guys are what make everything possible. And when you weren't there, it was awful. And I guaranteed those bumps hurt way worse when there was no audience to react. I mean, can you imagine doing WrestleMania in front of nobody?

32:20No.

32:21Steph McMahon:Like, crazy. Yeah. Absolutely crazy. I can't remember which wrestler it was that said it, but it's like a comedian doing comedy with no crowd. It's like, yes, of course it's still funny, but like. Ish. You need the reaction. Yeah. Yeah. I did love in the very beginning, and of course, because I guess I'm a mark for my husband, but so he's out there and he's doing the camera. He called commentary. He got up, he was doing the camera. That was great. That made it fun, you know? But I guess you can't do that every show. Yeah. He was his own one-man producer. He was, yeah. Yeah. Are you ready to hold WWE history in the palm of your hand?

33:01Steph McMahon:Topps is bringing you closer to the action than ever before with WWE Topps Now, highlighting the biggest matches and milestones from WWE shows and PLEs throughout the year. Tops Now is enhancing the fan experience by connecting collectors to the superstars and spectacles that ignite their passion. Featuring stunning event-exclusive photography, each card is made for the moment. And for some lucky collectors, that moment could become the pull of a lifetime. Along with serial numbered parallels, some Topps Now releases offer a chance at rare short prints, superstar autographs, and even pieces of the mat, gear, or other items used during the featured match.

33:48Steph McMahon:So which moments will you collect? With each card only available for a limited time, you won't want to wait to begin your Topps Now journey. Be sure to subscribe to the WWE Tops Now mailing list on tops.com and follow Tops on all social media platforms so you never miss a single moment. So you do have a big interview coming up later today, right? Yes. You were asking about the tear. Where to, Stephanie? Yes. I do remember. That was very good. Very well. Maybe I should ask him about that. You should. There's got to be a story there. Yeah? Yeah? Yeah, that was one of the first. My first blood-curdling scream, I believe.

34:30Steph McMahon:I was just going to say, please don't reenact the scream. Yeah, no, don't worry. I totally blow my vocal cords any time I do that. That was just shot after that. It was a good one. I told this to Undertaker. Him putting Stone Cold on the crucifix and also doing it with you. The symbol. Sorry, the symbol, yeah. The symbol. Thank you. The symbol. It's important. Yes. so Undertaker putting Stone Cold on the symbol and also putting you on the symbol oh yeah well he almost married me that's right it was one of the reasons I was not allowed to watch wrestling for a period of time my dad is a church going man and he was not a big fan of the Attitude Era for obvious reasons when I'm a 15, 16 year old right so I think he walked in during one of those moments and he's like you're not watching this Yeah, it's high theater.

35:23So, sorry, jerk. Dirk Van Fleet was not a fan of this.

35:28Steph McMahon:But Stone Cold did save me, ultimately. He did. He was your hero. He did. But I've got the big interview with The Undertaker in like an hour or something. That's going to be awesome. Any preview of, you know, what you want to get into or what people should expect, why they should go? Well, it's my second time interviewing Undertaker. The first one was at his house, which was also just such a crazy experience. Do you see all the tombstones in the backyard? I'm kidding. I'm like, wait, really? I was a guest on his podcast earlier that day. Right. And then he had some more interviews to do that day.

36:00And he goes, well, why don't I just give you the address and you can head over to my house and you can get all set up. And I'm like, like the 16-year-old in me is going, the Undertaker is giving me his home address. Why don't I give you my phone number just in case you get lost? Yeah, just go on in there, get set up, and I'll get there when I get there. and I'm like, this is insane. Do I say hi to Michelle? If you want to get a workout in, you can get a workout at my gym. There's so many things to talk to him about. I could talk to him for 20 hours and we still would just be scratching the surface.

36:34But one thing I'm really interested in is the stuff he's doing with AAA right now.

36:37Steph McMahon:Is the what? The stuff he's doing with AAA. Oh, yes. That El Grande versus El Grande match. It's amazing. Oh, my gosh. I am very interested in hearing his perspective on that for sure. that's easily one of if not the best match of the year so far and yeah and i think he's killing it right and that entire organization i mean all of the different characters and the difference in style as well sure you know and and how to combine lucha and keeping it lucha but with some of the production or storytelling elements of things that we can help provide right like it's it's an incredible partnership, but it is at his leadership.

37:18Steph McMahon:It's awesome. Yeah, I can't wait to chat with him about that. And does he have an iguana? I mean, that's... Mr. Iguana. He's also become the guy that lets people know they're getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. He's like the NFL's version of the knock. Right? Congratulations to you, by the way. Oh, thank you very much. Thank you. WWE Hall of Fame. Bonafide. Bonafide. How about that speech? Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you, thank you. But so what's a good tease? You know, AAA for sure, and then what else? What did you leave your last interview with him? Oh, my gosh. With that burning, damn, I wish I asked this.

38:01There's so many little silly things. I'll give you guys one. When Undertaker first started doing the Tombstone, he would put the guy's legs on this side of his head. now he puts a leg on either side of his head. And I'm like, what's the story behind that? Why did it switch up? And I'd love to learn that. I'm also going to ask him who took the best chokeslam and who took the worst chokeslam. I already have an idea of the worst, but I'm curious if he thinks it's going to be the worst. Who do you think took the worst? All right.

38:33Steph McMahon:From a fan perspective. Sure, I can give you my... Yeah. The best is that one he gave to Brock Lesnar. You guys know the one. where Brock Lesnar is like 14 feet in the air, and he bounces him down, and Brock Lesnar bounces. That's amazing. Brock Lesnar's almost 300 pounds, and he's selling his ass off for him. Hulk Hogan took one where he got like three inches off the ground. And I get that at that stage of his career, he didn't want to take big bumps. WrestleMania 18 is my favorite match of all time. Rock Hogan, I was there. but that rock bottom was a small rock bottom and i understand that at 49 i think he was you don't want to be taking those big sure well yeah and he he did have a lot of limitations by that point for physically for sure right and maybe there's other choke slams but that's the one that immediately pops into my head that's interesting i'm i'm grateful i never had to take a choke slam what's the worst move you took oh that's interesting i don't know that there's a worst move.

39:38Steph McMahon:You talked about the DD. It's all the most fun thing you can possibly do. All of it. One of the stiffest, I think, was probably Jericho. I was in a triple threat match for the WWE championship. So, undeservedly. There was a real difference when I was taking moves from Triple H or Chris Jericho. Chris was just not bad, but just like stiffer, you know, for sure. Like what moves specifically? No, I mean like clotheslines, even just like little things, you know, it was just like everything was a little more snug. But it was before or after he was held back for you to slap him. Oh, that's way after.

40:29Steph McMahon:Yeah, maybe there was some receipt I feel like we have to think of a tease for when you're on my show. One of the questions I've always wanted to know the answer to, and maybe don't give it to me now maybe. Yeah, I'm going to have too long to think about it. You were in the ring when Shane McMahon came back? Yes. And you got emotional. So do you mean when I was winning the Vincent Kennedy Senior Award in Detroit? It was like his return was at 2016, 2017 when he came back? you thought you were yeah i had the flu like you can't believe i was so sick i had been throwing up that entire night into that morning i had just stopped throwing up by the time i got to the building so i was not feeling well and it was one of those when like you're just not sure is it going to happen again and the show must go on right so there's nothing you can do about it i'm like i I feel so bad for Jackie who's doing my makeup.

41:28Steph McMahon:I'm like, I don't want to get you sick. Like, this is horrible. I'm gray. You know, it's just so bad. And then my husband says to me right before we go out there, because I'm starting to freak out. And I'm like, this is Shane's big return. Like, what happens if I get sick out there? And he goes, Steph, if you've got to throw up, just throw up on him. And I was like, all right. Yeah, can't go wrong if it's live, right? So, all right. So that's the true story. Yeah. Yeah. But everybody always reacts so favorably for Shane. So it's always an amazing feeling. And to see my brother love that, you know, and feel that, of course, it's emotional.

42:12Steph McMahon:It was a big moment. Yeah. It was. They went crazy. Well, it's crazy to know the story behind the story there. Yeah. Almost threw up on your brother. I was so sick. I mean, it was bad. Have you ever had a show must go on moment when you were, you know, compromised in some particular way and you still had to push through? Isn't it funny that when the red light turns on, the sickness seems to go away or whatever? I've had times where like, I don't know if I've been like, like had flu symptoms or like deathly ill, but there's been times when like I'm coughing like every 30 seconds, every minute. And I'm like, I'm going to somehow get through an hour long interview with this person.

42:55Right. keeping those coughs in. Coughs are hard when you're doing a live promo too. Oh, I bet. Yeah. Sure. But there's, I think what's been more of the thing for me is flights, delays. I'm doing whatever. My kids are three and 18 months right now. So I'm trying to do whatever I can to be at home with them as much as I can. Like taking the latest flight out, the earliest flight back, all of that. So a lot of it's like sometimes the flight gets delayed or your flight gets canceled and you've got to get on another flight. So there's been times when it's you're getting in, you've got to set up with 20 minutes to go.

43:33I interviewed Shawn Michaels maybe eight, nine months ago in Las Vegas. And I drove to Vegas from Los Angeles when I was living there at the time. And the drive took longer than I expected because of L.A. traffic. Because it's L.A., yeah. And I got there and I'm getting in the room and the interview is in like 10 minutes. It's like I'm still setting up all of my own gear. Travel with the tripods, the lights, the microphones, the mic stands, the audio recorder, the cables, the cameras, everything. We've got to set this up in 10 minutes, and one of the greatest of all times is about to walk in that door.

44:03Right. And I'm sweating, and we're going to have this conversation. That's been more of what it is for me. Right. Can we make this thing happen? Well, we don't have a choice. Right. We've got to make it happen.

44:14Steph McMahon:So are your kids going to be wrestling fans? I would hope so. Are you going to have, what's your tradition going to be with them? Like you go to baseball stadiums with your dad. What are you going to do with your kids? That's a great question. It's important because it's those special moments. And I heard a stat that's crazy to me that you spend 80 % of the time that you will with your kids by the time they're 18. And how heartbreaking that is. You're going to make me cry. Especially if mine are going to be 2018 and 16 at the end of the summer. It's like I'm holding on as hard as I possibly can right now.

44:51That tradition with my dad started when I was 16 because I wanted to go to a bass fishing tournament in Chicago. I'm a huge bass fishing fan. Really? I love bass fishing. I fish in bass tournaments.

45:02Steph McMahon:That's what you should do with Undertaker. I should go bass fishing with Undertaker in Texas? And do a pod like that. Maybe. Ron Breaker is also a big bass fisherman. Oh, do it with him. I wanted to go to the Bassmaster Classic in 2000. And my dad goes, I'll take you to the Bassmaster Classic at Soldier Field in Chicago if we go to Wrigley Field. And I'm like, done. I played high school baseball. I played baseball all the way until I was like 22. I'm like, absolutely. That's where it began. So the tradition with my kids, I don't know. I think it has to like naturally happen. Naturally happen. But my kids have like 15 WrestleBuddies, the big shots.

45:39They love throwing those things around.

45:42Steph McMahon:Do they have favorites? I think probably a little too young to figure it out. Okay, all right. It's the blue guy and the red guy. Yeah, still. All right. They do like to play with the Danhausen one because he looks like he's fun-looking. Well, of course, because Danhausen's just over. Penta's also a fun-looking big shot. Penta's awesome. Yeah. Triple H might scare them a little bit. I don't know. They do have the Triple H big shot because he's like. Yeah, yeah. I know. But, well, I'm open to whatever my kids want to do. Like, I am so incredibly grateful to be their father. Dad is the greatest title I could ever have.

46:19Steph McMahon:So what, I agree. Yes, absolutely. So as we wrap up, what would you say, what are the values that you want to instill in your kids? And how do you show them that you feel this unconditional love for them all the time? How do you make them feel that? Gratitude's a huge one for me. I end every interview asking, what are three things you're grateful for? Because it's something that I do. I start every day saying out loud three things I'm grateful for. Because you're focusing on the good things you have. Great practice. Rather than being upset about the things you don't have. And my wife and I do it before we go to bed.

46:58So gratitude's a huge one. No amount of regret can change the past. No amount of anxiety can change the future. But any amount of gratitude can change the present moment. So I think that's a big one, just like saying thank you for what we have. That's a big one. I think it's also the idea of instilling in my kids kindness. Like another quote from The Rock that I love is, it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. And I think that idea of being kind goes such a long way. And thank you for being so kind. Elise, thank you for being so kind as well. That's another one I think that I want to instill in my kids.

47:37Steph McMahon:when I think you practice what you preach. Thank you. Thank you for being on this show. But thank you also for giving so much back to our big wrestling universe, you know, our community. It's really incredible what you do. Ladies and gentlemen, the four-time Emmy Award winning, Chris Van Vliet. Thank you, guys.

48:11Steph McMahon:I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus, or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle.

48:55I chose option B. I'm Julie Pinheiro, and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word solita, trading the pity for possibility. Listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

49:18If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions.

49:41Steph McMahon:Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

49:51Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook. Each week, we talk to someone in show business and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicist for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, Adam Scott, Danny McBride, Ben Stiller, and a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.