Chuck Zito

20:17Steph McMahon:Makes the patch cooler, though. Pretty well. Yeah. Yeah. My patch got dirty. I got a new one. Oh, really? I was always immaculate. Oh, so that was like a thing. Always immaculate, yeah. It's like a uniform. You want to keep it looking sharp. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, things like that happened. And, you know, I knew your dad and your brother for a long time. Actually, I think we met in like, we had a meeting like 19, I think 80, 80 or 81 at Smith and Lewinsky's. Yeah. Yes. I rode up on my bike, went in there and walked in and sat with your daddy and your brother. And what they wanted to do, they wanted to make the Hell's Angels as big as the WWE.

21:05Wow. He wanted to bring, you know, make, you know, bicycles for kids and Halloween costumes. Oh, really? Merchandising? Yeah, merchandising. Wow. He wanted to do the whole thing.

21:17Steph McMahon:Huh. And anything. I mean, pool tables. Right. Sure. Of course. You know, anything. Yeah. Anything. Sneakers and bedspreads and, you know, Hells Angels and motorized bikes and. Sure. What else? Halloween costumes for the kids. Yeah. Yeah. I said, well, to me, that's badass. Yeah. You know, kid going through the store, hey, Mama, give me that Hells Angels, you know, you know, Halloween thing back in the day and everything else. So, of course, I brought it back to the club. Right. And said, look, they want to get, you know, make this thing as big as WDF. What do they get? I said, well, they get half and we get half, you know.

21:57And all the old guys were saying, you know what, we didn't become the biggest and baddest club for no reason, And so we're not selling our name and everything else. Nothing ever happened of it.

22:08Steph McMahon:Wow. Today, every one of them would have been a billionaire. Yeah. Forget about it. 40 years later. 40 years later. Yes. But the old guy says no. The new guys wanted to do it, but the older guys said no. But to me, to go in the store and see a kid wanting a Halloween costume. Right. Or seeing a motorized bike. And it didn't have to be like our patch. Sure. It could have just been, that's the Hells Angel on it. Yeah. Yeah. But back in the day, nobody wanted to sell a name. So what else happened in terms of wrestling? Like, was that your first sort of exposure to wrestling? Or when did you get involved?

22:49I actually, and I always credit Terry, you know, Hulk. Because being Thunderlips and Rocky, I thought he brought wrestling back. Yeah. I mean, I used to watch wrestling when I was a kid. But guys like Antonino Rocca, who never wore shoes. and guys like that. I was always fascinated by it. But then after watching Hulk Hogan on Rocky playing Thunderlips, I think it brought wrestling back to the community. And that's why it got so big. And he was great. And look, Terry was the number one guy for the Hulk Hogan was it and stole.

23:31Steph McMahon:Oh, so what's your beef with Andre? Oh, so anyway, I was at WrestleMania 1. Right? I was there too, by the way. With everybody. You were a little younger. Yeah, I was eight. And so was I. That was what? 1985? 85, yeah. 85, just before we went to prison. And you had everybody there. Come on, you know. Liberace, Billy Martin. Cindy Lauper. Muhammad Ali. Cindy Lauper. Mr. T. Yeah. I mean, plus all the biggest, you know, wrestlers at the time. Yep. It was just great. It was awesome. It was. And I had a great time and I brought my friend Bert with me and he had his son and his son was only like maybe five years old, you know, if that.

24:25And at the end of the show, we went down to the back through the back where the elevator is. Right. Where everybody goes downstairs. So we're there waiting for the elevator. All of a sudden, Andre comes walking up with Mean Gene.

24:36Steph McMahon:Yeah. And Bert goes to him. He goes, and we had our patches on. You know, we had our Hell's Angel jackets on. And Bert goes, hey, Andre, can you say hello to my son? He goes, leave me alone. He goes, look, if you don't like me, at least say hello to my son. I said leave me alone. Bert pulled out his knife and was going to stab him right in the eye. And Mean Gene goes, no, no knives, no knives. And I'm saying, this guy's going to grab Burt. I'm going to have to jump on his back. But everything was calmed down after that, but Burt was pissed. I bet. There was no need for it. And ever since that, I was an Andre fan.

25:18Before I was when I saw him wrestle, but after that elevator thing, I mean Gene yelling, no knives, no knives, oh my God.

25:27Steph McMahon:I always remember that. I guess so Gene I never really saw him after that but that was the first time that the five of us everybody has their own experience right you know ours wasn't a good one that's too bad I'm sorry everybody else no that's alright things at the time but he could have said hello to the kid you know and he didn't have to do that just say hello we didn't have cameras you know we never walk around with cameras Usually our talent are like, especially for the kids, right? You know, I think it just must have been a bad moment. I think because he saw who we were, he was just a little, can I say intimidated?

26:08I don't know. The guy was, you know, 600 pounds, who knows? You know, and I'm saying to myself, boy, Bert's going to pull this guy. I got to jump on his back, this guy. He's going to throw Bert against the elevator. And that was our experience with Andre. And I was never a fan after that.

26:24Steph McMahon:Well, that's too bad. I don't know if it was, you know, Andre just got, and I'm not making excuses, but he got bothered a lot because of his size. Right. That's too bad. I'm sorry. No, that's all right. That's all right. That was a long time ago. I'm talking. But so you were telling a story on a podcast. Yeah. But still, you remember it clearly. Yeah, of course. Yeah. How could you forget that one? Bothered you. Yeah. And for Bert to pull a knife. So what kind of knife? That was a buckle knife. You know, a lot of guys used to carry knives. Yeah. and he pulled it out, and he was ready. I like that Gene was able to just say no, and it stopped.

27:00Yeah, but Gene got all crazy. He said, oh, no, and Bird said, I'll stab you in the eye, man. You know?

27:06Steph McMahon:Yeah. So at least he didn't get stabbed. Yeah, hey, that's a win. So that's a good one. Sight is important. I have another story with when Terry, Hulk Hogan, I keep calling him Terry. You can call him Terry. Huh? I thought he knows. He calls me up, and it's a Saturday, and he goes, hey, brother. He goes, I need like 20 Hells Angels to walk us in the ring. Monday Night Raw. Yeah. I says, Terry, it's Saturday, and it's in the middle of winter. So, of course, we weren't right. It was snow and everything. And he goes, I'm going to send a truck for you. I said, okay. So I got 18 of us total. I got guys from New York, from my charter, which was the Nomads, and Kentucky, and Chicago, South Carolina.

28:02I got a bunch of guys together. And we got, took the bikes out of the truck, of course. We got a road. There was eight of us on each side. And, or nine of us. I think there was like 18 of us it was probably 9 of us on each side and then Hulk comes out of the limo and I'm sure you saw I don't know if you ever saw it was great it was the greatest entrance I think so what happens is Eric Bischoff was the one running it that night so he comes up he goes look you guys are going to ride out on each side of them you're going to go around the ring get off your bikes you're going to stand there and just watched them the whole time.

28:49He goes, but these guys are bad guys, so they might start throwing things at them, and you might get hit. I said, let me tell you something, Eric. I said, if myself or any one of my brothers get hit with anything, we're going to start stabbing and slabbing people. He goes, you know what? Don't even stop. Go around the ring and go right back in the back. Get out of there right away. That's what we did. Well, hang on.

29:11Steph McMahon:We got a merchandiser shirt right now. Stabbing and slabbing. That's the greatest thing I think I've heard. We went around twice, around the ring, and they were even saying, there's Chuck Zito. And the other guy, who's Chuck Zito? Of course, you know, they know. He's the one, he's the hell of the Hells Angels, you know. I mean, one of the Hells Angels, of course. And we went around twice, and we just went right in the back. Yeah. But we were supposed to stand there the whole time. Much more better. The whole time watching him wrestle and everything. Yeah. But once he starts saying that, he goes, you know what?

29:42Don't even stop. Go around the ring. Just keep going. Go back in the back. It's more of the presence.

29:48Steph McMahon:Yeah. But the crazy part about it, as we walk out, I mean, they're walking out, we're riding out. Right. Everybody starts cheering. And Terry's going, Hulk's going, he goes, man, it's supposed to be cheering for us. Well, that's a huge baby face entrance. When they saw us, they started cheering when they saw Hell's Angels. Yeah. And it was crazy. The whole crowd just changed. I'm sure. Yeah. And so unexpected, too. Yeah. But yeah. We had a great time. It was a great night. It was a great, I think, the rest. Oh, there we go. Yeah. There we go. That's Mel right there from Illinois. That's so cool.

30:23Steph McMahon:You know, we ripped off this idea a little bit. Paul and I, Hunter and I, had an entrance at WrestleMania with a female biker gang. Oh, you did? Yeah. Not Hell's Angels. That's my friend Chris. He was also a jiu-jitsu instructor right there. That's me right there with my bike. Yeah, that is. So cool. So that was the greatest entrance, I think. It was awesome. That's so cool. So cool. And still, today, we get so many hits on that. I bet. Millions and millions of hits on that. It's super cool. And people saying, to this day, they say, it was the greatest wrestler. I mean, the greatest entrance. You could have merchandised right off that.

31:00Steph McMahon:I think they should have left you out there. Bischoff wasn't thinking. Yeah. But it was funny. When he came up to me, he just said, you know, they'll start throwing things. I was about to tell you what. And that's what I told him. I don't think they would have given you got the pop, but yeah, it used to happen. Don't even stop. Go right back around the ring and go right back inside of us. Well, he was smart about that. That's for sure. But we had a great time. It was a great time. And it was a hell of an entrance. There's nothing like the feel of the crowd, right? For a long time. And actually, when I first met Hulk, I was at a restaurant and he was sitting there with your dad eating.

31:42And it was right after Rocky. And I went up to him. I says, yo, can I get that Polaroid now? And he looked at me and goes, man, you look like Sly. You know? And that's how we became friends.

31:54Steph McMahon:Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. I used to, there was a place called Cafe Central where all the celebrities used to go to also. It wasn't there though. But I started going there, and a story about that, too, was pretty how I got there. I was at the Academy of Music watching the first Duran-Leonard fight with John Bellucci and Dan Aykroyd. Wow. That's amazing. So. Wait, are you, you're just there with them? Are you bodyguarding for them? No, I'm with them. They were friends. They were friends with Sandy Alexander, who was the president of New York City, also a stuntman in the movie business. That's how I got started.

32:33Right. And we were watching, you know, the boxing. Then afterwards, at the end, they says, you know, we're going to go up to Cafe Central. You know, it's a bar. I said, you know, I don't drink. I never drank in my life. And I don't like the hangout place. I don't know. He goes, no, this is a different place. It's all movie stars, all ballerinas, all girls. I said, you talked me into it. So I went up there with them. And, of course, I had my Hells Angel patch on. So I go in there with them And wherever you looked There was five, six, ten celebrities at one time I went in there Cher was there Liza Minnelli was there Peter Regat

33:16John Goodman Guys like that They were all there Treat Williams And Bruce Willis was the bartender Wow So I'm looking and I said wow Bruce was just a regular guy then so I'm looking around I said wow, it's crazy so they start walking another way I'm walking around looking around and all of a sudden a guy comes up to me Paul Herman, he was a maitre d and he goes hey, hi, my name is Paul Herman I'm a maitre d of Cafe Central here we're going to have to ask you to take your patch off because you're scaring the customers you know and my boss told me to come up to you that's what he said he says my boss told me to come up to you and ask me to take you know take your jacket off I said I don't take my jacket off for anybody he goes well you're gonna have to leave then I says I leave when my friends leave I came in with two friends when they go I'm going so then I said you tell your boss to come see me so this little guy comes up named Peter Herrera he goes what's the problem I said you tell me I said this guy's telling me to take my jacket off he goes well you're scaring my customers I says well I didn't intend to do that but I don't take my jacket off for anybody he goes well then you have to leave I said when my friends leave I'll leave so I said hey sit down for a minute you know there was a booth there so we sat down I said first of all yeah I'm a hell's angel but I don't drink I don't smoke I never took a drug in my life never even tried it he goes oh I don't know that's what we talked about 15-20 minutes he goes you know what you're welcome here anytime you want I'd love to have you I said, great.

34:56That was my new home. I went there every night.

34:58Steph McMahon:Wow. That's great. I rode up on my motorcycle, went there every night, and met everybody. I met Joe Pesci there after he just did Raging Bull. Wow. Liza Minnelli. I met everybody there. So at another time, I was doing, I was at a car show at the New York Coliseum, and Robert Conrad was there. And they asked if I could bring him in the back because there were a lot of people coming around. He was a big star at the time. He was doing Black Sheep Squadron. He was doing other things, Wild Wild West. So I escorted him in the back, and he had a bodyguard with him. So I asked the people, could you move?

35:35So they saw me, and I was an Elis Angel and everything. They moved. And we got in the back, and I said to the guy, he says, you make money out of this? He goes, yeah, it's a very lucrative thing. I said, well, how did you get started? He goes, look, what you do is you have cards made. Start giving them to people, and before you know it, somebody will call you. Just think of a catchy name. so I went home I think I said you know my name is Charles Chuck Charlie I'm a Hell's Angel so I called it Charlie's Angels Bodyguard Service and I had cards made with a kickboxer it's a flying kickboxer with with wings and uh I had it on my wrist but uh I had it made I started giving cards out so I went back to Cafe Central I started handing cards out to Liza Minnelli.

36:20That's what I was wondering is how you got started with Liza Minnelli. Liza called me the next day.

36:25Steph McMahon:Wow. And she goes, my sister, Lorna Luft, you know, her half-sister, Lorna Luft, was getting death threats. And she was in a play called Snoopy. And I said, okay. I says, you know, I'll go meet her. I says, if, you know, how much? I said, well, the first night it's, you know, gratis. If she likes me, I like her. We'll get along. And so I did. and we got along and started working for her on the rink. And Liza was paying me. Right. And then after the rink, Liza got a job on, I mean, I'm sorry, on Snoopy. Liza did a show called The Rink with Chita Rivera. She hired me to be a bodyguard for the show.

37:08Steph McMahon:Wow. And once Liza, you know, once Liza was there, everybody came to her dressing room. Everybody. De Niro, Pacino, I mean, everybody was every, Elizabeth Taylor, Liberace, Halstead, everybody. So I'm standing at the door, and she goes, well, one requirement is you have to wear a suit. So now I'm in a suit like this, and I'm at the backstage, and I'm at her door. So people used to come in, can I see Liza? I went in there, so one day I walked in there, I says, Liza. Elizabeth Taylor is outside. She wants to know if she can see you. She goes, you're making Elizabeth Taylor wait outside? I says, yes.

37:55She goes, I love you. And I went out there to tell her you can come in now. That's so great. That's how I used to. I don't care who they were. You had to wait. Let me ask Liza. If she's dressed, she's ready to take, you know, visitors. I'll find out. And I was the only guy there. and I was there for, you know, we were there for like five months probably. Wow. Doing the show.

38:20Steph McMahon:All you needed was to get your foot in the door. Yeah. And everybody saw me with Liza and everybody started calling me. A year or two years later, I was known as the bodyguard to the stars and bodyguard everybody could think of. From Elizabeth Taylor to Michael Jackson to Sly to Pamela Anderson. What's your craziest bodyguard story? My craziest? Or like one that sticks out. I got one with Liza because we used to walk out the backstage and there would be people there waiting to see her. I mean, hundreds of people. Sure, yeah. So she used to, the booklets, the flyers they had, the programs for the show, she used to sign them.

39:01And one day, straight ahead, there was a fire escape, you know, go from the rink downstairs if there was a fire. and the guy was standing there. So everybody else was on his grounds. When I opened the door, I seen the guy. He went in his jacket pocket and I'm thinking he's got a gun there. So I run up there and I grab his arm and I grab him by the throat and I'm squeezing his throat. It's Adam's apple. And I'm ready to think I'm pulling out a gun. He pulls out a camera. And I let him go and I says

39:39Steph McMahon:Next show's on me. Oh boy. I said, yeah, the guy was turning purple and red and everything. And I, uh-oh. So I said, you know what? I says, because I'm thinking not only I get sued, but my client. Yeah. You know, they could do that. I said, look, I apologize. Why are you standing here when everybody's else here? You go in your jacket. It's just natural. Boom. I said, I'll tell you what. I'll give you two front row tickets tomorrow night. That called it. Fixed. Good for you. Yeah, today, I don't know if you'd get away with it. because everyone would be recording. Oh, yeah, right. That's right there when you said that.

40:17That's the worst thing they ever invented.

40:19Steph McMahon:Yeah. Those phones and computers. I'm sorry. And computers. Because even if it's nobody's business, they start recording everything. Everything. And it's crazy. Yeah. It's crazy. So we were, Paul and I were at the train station when Trump was first elected. and we were there, you know, my mom was the head of small business administration. So, you know, and we had, it was incredible, right? So the opportunity to be there for the inauguration and we went to the train station because yeah, because we were, um, you know, just waiting and everything was so crazy and busy and we're certainly not a part of the cabinet.

41:01Steph McMahon:So we're, you know, we're just waiting. And there were people at a nearby table just trying to incite us because they recognized, of course, my husband, and they were against my mom, and just anything to do with the administration. So they were really trying to incite him to get mad, and everybody had their cameras out. And luckily nothing happened, but I could feel the pressure of it. Of course, it's amazing the hate they have today. It's amazing what's going on today. And the thing is, like, I don't, really talk politics you know much you know and and i try not to some of my friends yeah and i respect everybody's opinion you know like i really do and and we have guests some who are very anti but it's never um it's not a political show right so we don't really talk about that but everyone has their own opinions and perspectives on you know what they want for this country and it's so It's so tough because there's just a lack of communication.

42:07Steph McMahon:And like you said, the guy at the cafe. Yeah, I was going to say that. He had preconceived notions about you. Yes, yes, yeah. And 10 to 15 minute conversation. You guys got to know each other a little bit. You didn't want to kill him anymore. And he, you know, like, and then you guys became, like, you were invited every night, right? Well, you got to remember, I'm friends with the president for over 40 years. Yeah. Same with my parents. Yes. Because WrestleMania was, you know, at Trump Tower in Jersey in Atlantic City. Back to back. And then goes WrestleMania 4 and WrestleMania 5, if I remember correctly.

42:41Steph McMahon:And that was where their relationship first started. In fact, President Trump, well, you know, Donald Trump at the time. Right. When he had, you know, Trump Towers in Atlantic City. Yeah. That's where it was. He's the one who brought the UFC there. Yeah. Because everybody, they were banned. Couldn't get sanctioned. Yeah. Especially in New York. Yeah. So basically he gave them the first opportunity to show the world about the UFC. Yeah. Yeah. You know. And so how, so I know your father was a professional boxer. How did you, so you started boxing at a young age, right? Yes. And. I used to get beat up every day in the Bronx.

43:21I was from the South Bronx and there was a guy named Butch. I always compared him to, even in my documentary, it says a kid from the Little Rascals. Yeah. That guy Butch. so for some reason, I mean, we were only five years old, but he was a heavier kid, and he had that mentality back then. Right. I wish I saw Butch, you know, later on in my life. I used to get beat up all the time. Every time he saw me, for some reason, beat me up. I went crying home to my father one day, and he goes, don't ever come crying home to me. You hear me? So he pulls out this chest with all his boxing equipment in it.

43:59He had his, you know, his robe, his gloves, his headgear, everything. And he put the gloves on me. The gloves went up to my elbow. And he got on his knees and he said, I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself. And we started to throw a jab, throw this, and that's how I started boxing for the first time. And then I said, I learned how to throw a jab and right hand and a hook. That's the three basic things. And I said, I can't wait to use this on Butch again. you know, when he comes up to me, that's it. And the next day, very next day, when after he started talking to me and I went to use it and he beat me up again.

44:41Steph McMahon:That's what I was going to ask. Oh, man. It didn't work. So that's how I, you know. So when did it, was there ever a moment where you taught Butch a lesson? No. No? No. He's lucky. We were kids. In fact, I tell you what, I remember going to first grade and you know when your first time you're in in school and they had to drag him in he was crying you know with his parents and everything right and i started laughing i was like oh good for him but i didn't let him know i was laughing so even when i get on sundays we used to my parents used to dress us up i mean i had suits i had like a you know gangster hat on yeah we always dressed nice all of us today I watch kids they go to school with pajamas on with sandals I can't believe it you can't wear your house shoes out I stop at a light by a school and I see them I can't believe this we used to out dress each other who had the nicest clothes girls had dresses on in junior high school in high school it was amazing but I see these kids today But I remember him crying and I just, you know, was laughing inside.

46:01Steph McMahon:But so then how did you make the, like, how did you get exposed to MMA? Because you have a black belt in a number of different disciplines, right? I trained in eight different styles. Eight different styles. Basically, when I saw Bruce Lee in the Green Hornet, I said, I want to be like Bruce. So I enrolled, I was 18. I enrolled into Aaron Banks Karate Academy in New York City. And I started training Kung Fu, White Crayon Tiger Claw Kung Fu with Master Chin. So after I, because Bruce Lee was, you know, Kung Fu and Jeet Kendo and everything. And who didn't want to be like Bruce? I mean, he opened up the doors for so many people.

46:44In fact, when I first met, you know, Bernard Carrick, he did the same thing. After Bruce, he started training in martial arts and we had the same story. So a lot of people, you know, he introduced the martial arts to everybody. And then after that, I started training with Tommy May and Ishiro Karate. And then went on to with Shion Chris Colombo and Chiquita Jiu-Jitsu, Kamiti Roo Jiu-Jitsu, VNS Jitsu, and all those styles.

47:17Steph McMahon:And clearly you have a knack for it, right? Like you excelled so rapidly, right, through all of that. I went and I have, I went to my first karate tournament. In fact, I started with, actually I was with Chiquita Jiu-Jitsu with Master Bute. I was there one week. He goes, there's a tournament coming up. Who wants to fight? I raised my hand. He goes, you just started. You can't fight. I said, well, I've had a lot of boxing and, you know, I'd like to go. So I went to the tournament. I beat every white and yellow belt there. Wow. Bill, Sue Fort Wallace, and John Balutri, and Dan Aykroyd were in my corner.

47:54Steph McMahon:That's so cool. Yeah. So that was pretty wild. Yeah. And I still have my picture with them, and I have my trophy, my first place trophy with them. And how did you first meet them?

48:11Bill was, I got a story with that too. John Balutri was friends with Sandy Alexander, who was in a stuntman in the movie business. He did some movies and he used to come to the clubhouse, John. And then when they opened up the blues bars, we used to go there.

48:29Steph McMahon:Oh, okay. And hang out with them and everything. So, of course, I became friends with John and Dan. The Blues Brothers was playing at the Academy of Music on 14th Street. Okay. And we had our clubhouse on 3rd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue. So, I met, you know, like I said, I met John and Danny from Sandy Alexander. and I found out that he's got this new bodyguard. And I says, man, Dan knows, you know, I've got my bodyguard business. Why am I, you know, I says, I'm going to go there and I'm going to intimidate the shit out of this guy, you know, where he just walks away. So I see them coming out backstage gate after the show and I see Dan come out and I see John.

49:11I say, John. And all of a sudden I see Bill Wallace behind him. And I said, how you doing, Mr. Wallace? My name's Chuck Zito. because he was at the time the middleweight champion of the world and there was a kickboxing. He never lost a fight. 23 times a kickboxing champion of the world. That's pretty funny. Wow.

49:31Steph McMahon:That's pretty funny. And I was a big fan of his. Yeah. And I was ready to go intimidate this guy. It was funny. I said, how you doing, Mr. Wallace? My name is Chug Zito. And we became friends from there. That's great. And we're friends to this day. To this day. Yes. That's so cool. 40, 50 years later, we're still friends. So it was crazy. What do you think motivates a fighter? Like how do you, I think it's a particular kind of person who has that mentality. I had my first ring fight, I was 12 years old. And I had it at the Southside Boys Club in the Rochelle. So that was my first, you know, part or look with an audience.

50:19I mean, that was very nervous. I don't care what they say. Even today's day, you're still nervous before you go in for a fight. You know, you get the jitteries, you get the, wow, this is going to happen, you know, and everything else. And like my first night at Golden Gloves, it was crazy. But I walked out there when I was 12 years old and it's at Southside Boys Club. Because 12 is pretty young, right? With my father. Oh, yeah. Yeah. To fight, yeah. To get in the ring, yeah.

50:41Steph McMahon:Yeah, to get hit in the head. And my father was in my corner and he told me, you know, instructed me, Look, he showed a punch up there, come down, hit him with solo flex and everything else. So I tried that. It didn't work. So that was my first night. My first night as a 12-year-old boy in the ring. Then when I was 18, 19, I went into the Golden Gloves in New York City. That was the most prestigious tournament there was. Everybody went into Golden Gloves before they became a champ. Yeah. Everybody. which is sad today. They don't even have it anymore. The Daily News Golden Gloves, it was called.

51:21They put it on for years and it hasn't been, I don't even know how long it's been, 10, 15 years since they had a Golden Gloves match. But that was the biggest tournament

51:31Steph McMahon:where you have hundreds of kids from all the metropolitan area going in the Golden Gloves. So I walk in there and my first night, it was the first night of the Golden Gloves and I had the first fight. talking about pressure. Right? I said, wow. So you're in a room, probably the size of this, you know, dressing room, and you have all the guys in there who you're fighting. Oh, really? They're all one locker room? Everybody's in the same room. Wow. One locker room. It's not even, you know, people on the floor, people sitting on milk boxes, this, and they come up, and it was one guy I saw in a corner, and the guy was just a jacked up kid, and I said, wow, look at that.

52:10I told my father, I hate to see the guy fighting this guy. Right? So he comes in, Zito and Pratt. I start getting up. All of a sudden, I saw that guy from the milk box start getting up. I said, you're Pratt? Yeah. I said, I'm going to get killed. I'm going to get killed. And my father says, don't worry about it. Don't worry about his size. Because he was like just a strong little kid, like a young Mike Tyson. He was just jacked. He was just. I said, we get in the ring. He's in there. you know, and I'm watching across the ring like this. My father hits me on his shoulder. Move, move. I went.

52:52And I went out there. He hit me with an overhand right, his first shot. And I just said, I stood back. I said, what the fuck am I doing here?

53:01Steph McMahon:Right. And then I just started moving around. He was, you know, like Mike, just charging at you all the time. So I started throwing a jab out. I started throwing a jab. He goes underneath. I throw a jab. He goes underneath The third time I throw the jab I come up with an uppercut Boom he goes down Really? Yeah Awesome Then I got all my confidence back I said get up Yeah Come on You know So the second round I knocked him out That's great That's a great story But it was the first Nine of the Golden Gloves I had the first fight That's crazy And like I said Talk about pressure So I'm like God And then when that guy Got off the chair I mean the milk box I was like Oh my God He's gonna kill me But so here's Like a perfect example Not everybody I mean aside from the fact of the skill of boxing, but like, to get out there and to put yourself in that position, you know, like that's a special kind of person.

53:52And not only that, I had half my friends from New Rochelle there. They were all cheering me on. I said, no way I'm going to lose tonight. You know, I was from Westchester. They called me the Westchester Walloper.

54:02Steph McMahon:That's a great name. And in the news, the first night, the first night of the gloves, now I told you, Daily News sponsored this. Right. So they used to have the center section where it was all pictures and the whole back. I was the whole, the center centerfold and the back. That's awesome. Zito knocks Pratt out. The guy's name was Pratt. Knocks Pratt out in the second round and I thought I was like Do you still have it? I have those clips. I had them made and put them up. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. And I was a refrigeration mechanic too at the time so I used to work in all the finest supermarkets repairing the refrigeration.

54:39So I walk in and everybody had the newspaper and i thought i was you know yeah rocky marciano they had the papers i looked at it everybody it was it was great yeah because everybody was you know got the news that's so great daily news yeah and it was sponsored by the daily news golden gloves

54:57Steph McMahon:yeah so maybe it's a way to like you know you make it you are somebody right like that it must feel really good. Yeah. Yeah. Especially, like I said, when I walked into the supermarkets, everybody had the paper. Yeah. Yeah, they treated me like, you know, but at this time, though, you're also married, right? Yes. And was your daughter born at that time? Yes. My wife actually was married before. Okay. And I raised her daughter since she was a year old. Okay. So this is not your biological daughter? No. Okay. No. Did you ever have any biological children? No. But since she was one, that's That's amazing Because I was with my wife for 30 years Yeah That's another story A story you don't like to tell That's another story That was exciting My documentary is coming out soon Finally And it's going to be on Amazon Prime So in the next couple of weeks It should be on Amazon Prime And the great thing about it I have the most powerful man in the world Opens and close my documentary President Trump.

56:05That's amazing. He opens and closes my documentary.

56:08Steph McMahon:That's so cool. Yeah. Are you ready to hold WWE history in the palm of your hand? 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.

57:02Steph 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. I actually had Mickey Rock's bike for 33 years, the one from Harley Davis and Marlboro Man. That was the first electric start one. Wow. And I had that for 33 years. But Mickey never gave me the title to it. I just had it in my house in New York, and I rode it all over the place. Well, what happened was I went to California to his house, and he had a bunch of bikes.

57:46He must have had like 10, 12 bikes. And the Marlboro bike is all metal, so it started rusting. I said, Mike, let me take this back, and I'll fix it up. And I took another bike that was in – he had another bike that was in – what was the other name of the movie with Cary Otis? Anyway I took both of them back so I fixed one up and he always liked the purple so I painted the bike purple and black and everything and sent that back to him but I kept the Marlboro bike for all those years and I used to take it to all the runs because every year we have a USA run at Los Angeles and it'd be all over the country so I always rode that bike and I got there one day and you know had a little seat must have been a half inch thick.

58:37It was, I mean, it was all metal.

58:39Steph McMahon:So rough for a countrywide, nationwide ride. So I got to a run and I was like, you didn't ride this here. I said, of course I rode it here. Would I have pushed it? It was a hard bike to ride. I mean, it's a very difficult bike. Not for me, I was used to it, but I rode that bike all over the country. Yeah. All over the country. So cool. and then finally he got it back so he told me I need the bike back after 33 years and he wanted to do a motorcycle movie I said Mick it was always yours you know he gave me the title for it so I said look I got a 64 Corvette you want to trade for it no I want my bike back I said alright so I get the bike I get a trailer I you know pay somebody to take it all out to California the day he gets the bike he calls me he goes I'll trade you for the Corvette I said Mick I would have sent you a Corvette and not the bike I said look hold the bike I can't come out there for a couple months and I'll take the paperwork and we'll make the trade I went back four months later he left the bike outside in the rain and rusted to shit I said you're kidding me I said why did you the wheels were you know chrome was rusted the tank was rusted I had no time a chance to put it in a garage right there.

1:00:02Why don't you put it in the garage? He never did. I said, look, you're still interested in the Corvette. Yes. Done deal, Neil. That's what he said. She was okay. So now I said, look, I'll take the bike. A friend of mine, Shane, followed me. I went down to Orange County to rock and roll paint. My friend Randy owned the business, and he painted a few things for me. And I took it down there. I took it all apart. I sent, you know, we did the tank over, because all it was was all like 30-grip paper swirls, and it had, you know, a Harley Davidson on it with cards and a skull, and we did that same paint job, and we just cleared it and made a new one.

1:00:44All the chrome I sent out, and then about a month later, Mickey calls me, he goes, look, I don't want the car no more. I want my bike back. And he never got the bike, the car yet. I said, Mick, I told you, it's all a part. It's in Randy's shop. Well, where is it? I said, it's down in Orange County, rock and roll paint. He goes the next day. And he goes up and he walks into the place. He goes, look, I'm Mickey Rourke. And there's a motorcycle. He goes, well, you don't look like Mickey Rourke. Because, you know, all the plastic surgery he had. And he just looked a mess. So, and I always tell people that, you know, between us, Mickey can't read.

1:01:24he was supposed to go to Beverly Hills Dr. Schumacher the plastic surgeon instead he went next door to the shoemaker

1:01:33Steph McMahon:you can only say this because you're friends right we used to be because of this story or something else no because I told them I said Mick the bike's all so I took the bike back to New York after it was done I said look it cost me$10 ,000 to fix the bike Give me the 10 grand. It's yours. Now I'll give you 4 ,000. I said, no, Mick, the price is 10. And that's it. A couple months later, I live in a place where I got divorced. I built this house for me and my wife. Beautiful house. And we got divorced. And I didn't realize what a good housekeeper my wife was. We got divorced. She kept the house.

1:02:20So I had to move. She's still in the house. She's still there. I built it for us and did all the brick and stone, me and my friends. And it was something. So I had to move up the west in a smaller, it was an apartment. I had the garage there already, so it was a small apartment. And next door, they were selling, you know, some drugs there. And one day I come out, I see SWAT there. I said, wow, they finally got these guys. It's amazing. Finally, after all these years, I walked to my gate. A dozen cops around me, they says, Mr. Zito, we're here to search and seize Mickey Rooks' motorcycle. No way.

1:03:00I said to myself shit Fucking bikes in a garage You know So he goes We're glad you're here because We were ready to cut your gates down And your garage and everything and take the bike I said let me tell you something I don't care how many guys you have here If I came home and I saw you mess with my My stuff I said it'd be a big problem He goes Mr. Zito we know who you are We know what you're capable of doing That's why there's a dozen of us and not two of us and I said that's pretty cool I had to open my garage and take the bike out and they had a flatbed there I had to put it on a flatbed and that's it brought it back to him so we never talked since

1:03:46Steph McMahon:I guess I understand that so I don't talk to him that's too bad because you guys were we were talking for years I was his bodyguard for years I was stunt double in some movies he did and then I found out he sold a bike. Oh. Yeah. So you know what? He should have just said, hey, you know what? Here's the bike back. And I had it for 33 years and that was it. I don't talk to him. And what does he say about the whole scenario? He don't say nothing. I never saw him. Yeah. You know, he got hit once from me already. So, you know, back in scores, back in the days, you know, after the Jean-Claude thing and then he got it too.

1:04:24Steph McMahon:Because Jean-Claude said you have no heart? Is that what he said? Yeah. I was at Scores one night. And you got to realize, I was his bodyguard in 1992. Jean-Claude's. Jean-Claude's. Okay. We used to go and the Hawaiian Tropic contest, they always had judges there. And I was even a judge myself. And also President Trump was a judge when he was Donald Trump, you know? And they used to have all the celebrities there, everybody there. Jean-Claude got invited. I got invited. And I was his bodyguard. and we were there for the, you know, for the Hawaiian Tropic Contest. And then I wound up being his bodyguard.

1:05:05He went to Vegas for a martial arts extravaganza there. I went with him. We were sparring each other up on a roof there and then it was the Aladdin Hotel and they changed it. and

1:05:27then we had a falling out and then he went his way and I went mine

1:05:31Steph McMahon:and six years later he came in with Mickey Rourke and like eight guys and when me and Mickey were tight then and I was having dinner there already and Frankie comes up to me one of the bouncers he goes Mickey says come up and sit with them I said alright the president the lounge up there. I said, okay. So I went up there and after I had my dinner, I went up there, I saw Mickey holding everything in and Jean-Claude was there. I said, hey Jean-Claude, how you doing? And he just had an attitude and he goes, you know, hey Chugzito. And I said, I know my last name. Why are you saying that? So we didn't say anything.

1:06:15Steph McMahon:Was he messed up a little? No, because he was doing a movie and he was drinking water. so. He just wanted to pick a fight? Yeah I guess. You think he regretted that decision? It wasn't a good time either. Yeah that's too bad. But look we had a fight that night and then Was he a good fighter? Yeah he was a great fighter. I broke my hand on his head. That's the scar from his head. How long was that fight as compared to the 10 minute fight with the other guy? that was a few minutes oh okay and then you know he was down and some bouncers came and grabbed me and I wanted to break my hand they threw him out and Mickey says you know I said because now I'm going home that's when we had you know answer machines and pages at the time so I had to go to hospital I couldn't, and the thing, the crazy thing, this happened on Thursday night.

1:07:21Friday comes, Howard Stern gets on. Did you hear about that guy who bitch slapped Sean Claude Van Damme last night? Man, you don't mess with those guys. Ba-ba-boo, we get him on the show. So Mickey told me he was going to press charges against me. So I denied my whole thing. I wasn't even at scores. Time became an answering machine, you know, inside edition, and this one that called me. And everybody called and I denied it. I said, I wasn't even there. So I don't know what you're talking about. And the crazy part about it, Monday, I start Oz, my first day on Oz.

1:07:58Steph McMahon:Oh, so this is after prison. This is like right after you got out. Yeah. So you're in a precarious position anyway. I start Oz the first day. In the paper, it's got a big picture of Jean-Claude doing a bicep pose as Jean-Claude Van Slam. second page it says Chuck Zito, star of Oz I said I didn't work one day, I'm gonna get fired oh no so I couldn't get a cast on my hand my hand was twice the size because I would have lost the job so I didn't want to get a cast because they saw that, they said sorry you can't use it, so I just had the hand and I go in they tried to call me for the Howard Stern show I said no I'm not doing it I says I don't even know what you're talking about I wasn't even there so Monday came I go to Oz for my first day and I walk in and Tom Fontana who's the director and writer and producer Oz everything he says I read the paper I said fuck this guy's gonna fire me you know he goes couldn't you air the show couldn't you hit him when he show air you know because he got so much publicity publicity yeah that's right so I wound up doing a Howard the next day and I told him what happened and he says I can't believe it you know you're a big guy who's gonna mess with you and blah blah blah and I said let me tell you something Howard if I knew I was gonna get this much publicity I would have knocked him out three years ago so well and Howard he was a big scores guy at the time oh he was a scores all the time too and everybody and I brought a lot of celebrities there.

1:09:43I mean, I brought Mickey there. I brought Sean there. I brought everybody. Charlie Sheen, everybody to Scores. Whenever they were in New York, I brought them there. We had dinner. They used to have a good you know, they had a good restaurant there. Yeah, that's what I heard. The food was amazing. The food was good. I was there all the time. And I had to be there you know, probably every other night.

1:10:08Steph McMahon:I was there once. And that's why you were there. I shot a music video. With DX, casual That's where we shot it in the back So that was putting a toll on my marriage too Because I was out a lot In my documentary I say I could have been a better husband and father You know Father's Day I was out with a club in Laconia I was at Scores And leaving her home So I say it in my documentary That I Well we all learn We all learn. After 30 years, I mean, it was, you know. Yeah. We didn't leave on good terms, but lately we've been talking. I mean, you know, it gets so old. Yeah. Well, you both live. All I know is, like I said, this happened in 99.

1:10:59I always say, you know, we missed our so many 27 years wasted of our best lives because now we're both old, you know.

1:11:09Steph McMahon:You don't think you lived your best life? no I'm saying with her yeah I don't know if you could have done both at the same time we tried to go back a couple times and if we ever had an argument the affair came up and it was no good yeah that's life things happen you go on you move on and you learn I never remarried saw different girls of course but never remarried I did it once meanwhile I have friends that were married five six times you guys are crazy that's really crazy do you hear the ad on TV all the time what's the guy like he's on wife but he's only on wife number two have you heard that I feel like that's an SNL big John or something some of my friends married six times I don't want to say their names they're well known too just date at that point who knows If the first one don't work, the second one don't work.

1:12:10Why waste your time? The first one didn't work with me. I wasn't going to get married again.

1:12:16Steph McMahon:Well, it clearly hurt you really bad. Yeah. She was basically my childhood sweetheart. Yeah. You know? We were 17 when we started going together. I mean, you know. But can I ask a question? Yes. But it's okay for, and I know that at this time, society was a bit different and maybe still is. The society was so different back then. So it's okay for the male in the relationship to fool around, but not the female in the relationship? It's just a time thing? You know, nobody ever caught me with anything. Nobody ever said nothing.

1:12:57It's just different. It's one thing. If I say it, you know, for a guy, it's maybe a one-night stand with something. Right. You know, when somebody else. It's more that because it was a relationship. Because their relationship. And when I was with her. Yeah. Not married because we weren't married. Right. But common law marriage, if that exists. But, you know, when we're living together and, you know, doing everything together and find out.

1:13:24Steph McMahon:Yeah. Yeah. It was another relationship. It hurt. Yeah. It hurt. So. And the crazy thing about it.

1:13:34I thought something was going on so I tapped my phones you know and I had to go out with Pamela Anderson we went to I took her to the Tyson fight then I was supposed to do an episode of VIP so of course I would call the phone and listen to any messages and all of a sudden a message she called hi it's me and this guy gets on, says his name, August so-and-so, and with his number. Says, who the fuck is this guy? Right? So now I say, now I hear this. And then the next message was my daughter, she called.

1:14:24And she goes, my daughter, she goes, I'm going skiing with August.

1:14:29Steph McMahon:Oh, your daughter? Last weekend, yeah. And she never said August 2. She knew. They found out she had dinner with him. So they both, you know, deceived me. Both of them. So my daughter hasn't talked to me in 30 years. I have two grandsons. They don't even know who I am. And they're, you know, in college and out of college. Yeah, because of it. So, you know, went through some. because hurt with the thing that happened, you know? What would you say is you're like, you've lived so much life. What's the biggest lesson in this seems like the hardest thing you went through? Yeah, I took jail with nothing.

1:15:13Six years in prison. I mean, that was the hardest thing I went through.

1:15:15Steph McMahon:Yeah. It still bothers me to this day. Because every time, even today, even to this day, when I put my head on the pillow, I think about it. Really? To this day. Like PTSD. I don't even sleep. If I get three hours sleep a night, it's a lot. Really? Yeah. I'm up all night. Have you always been like that or since prison? Since, no, no. Prison I was sleeping. Even with my wife I was sleeping. But after all this stuff, it was harder to take. So I get three, four hours sleep a night, I'm lucky. I hate when guys tell me, oh, I get eight, ten hours sleep without waking up. You're kidding me. No, ten hours sleep without waking up.

1:15:55Last time I got 10 hours sleep, I was in a bassinet.

1:16:00Are you crazy? I get mad when people tell me to get out without waking up. Do you still train? I still train.

1:16:08Steph McMahon:Yeah. Not as much as I used to because I'm always busy now. Like I said, my documentary, I've been working on that for a long time. The thing that was, I had music in there by Joe and Jenton and some other people we had to take some music out because me i thought you could just use you know whatever yeah music and of course they come a lot of rights involved now yeah so yeah i i had to buy rights to uh joan gave me her stuff uh now i have a kid rocking it american badass because president trump comes out walks out to that song all the time i have that i had to pay for that That's the Undertaker's entrance music for a period of time also.

1:16:49And I just put, when I talk about my family in the Bronx, growing up in the Bronx when I was a kid, I remember sitting on those steps with my mom. That was Stoop right there. And then it goes, and my grandmother and aunt lived right next door. And then it goes into a Louis Prima cello luna. The song cello luna. And it goes through the whole thing with us in the backyard, the kids. That's beautiful. My family and everything else. So I had to buy that. So that's what was taking so long. And finally, it's going to be on Amazon Prime, hoping by the end of this month. Awesome. And then everybody will be seeing it.

1:17:27So we're doing that.

1:17:30Steph McMahon:Was it cathartic to do it all? Like, did you find that you healed in any way from telling your story or not yet, not until it's out? Not until it's out, I think. You know, because it says a lot. It goes back to when I was born. I mean, you know, I was on Wheeler Avenue when I was born. I showed a house to where I was born at. Then we moved. Our second house was on Beretto Street in Hunts Point. In fact, right across the street was the spot for home for youths there. My mother used to threaten me. You bet. I'll tell you across the street. Very convenient. So, and then moved a lot. Moved to Brooklyn, moved to Sheepstead Bay from there.

1:18:11Went to Bensonhurst. you know we moved a lot you know my dad was the superintendent of a building and manager of buildings so we had to move with him and then once they got divorced then we moved to uh new rochelle and uh where i'm still at yeah my sister still lives my older sister lives there my youngest sister lives in uh uh hop hog uh long island and my mom's in comac so she's three miles from my mom so she goes to see her all the time. So, but we were on, you know, moving a lot back in the day, especially after they got divorced. We went up to New Rochelle, which to us, that was like country compared to Brooklyn.

1:18:51Yeah.

1:18:52Steph McMahon:You know, and Brooklyn at that time too was very different. We used to call my aunt, Pat Fellini and Eddie Fellini. And that was, you know, Jake LaMotta. Yeah. His wife's sister. So we always close to Jake and my father being a fighter. They were always close. His stablemate was Rocky Graziano at the time. My dad always fought at Stillman's Gym. And fought at Yankee Stadium a lot. Mads for a guard of my dad. Wow. Yeah, so he... Did my grandfather promote any of those fights at the Garden? I wonder. Or my great-grandfather, Jess McMahon, promoted boxing. I don't know. Yeah, I wonder. But that was in the 40s.

1:19:36Yeah. My dad fought. But you have guys today fighting 30 years. They've had 55 fights. My father fought for 12 years and had 228 fights.

1:19:48Steph McMahon:That's crazy. And you know what he used to get paid? $10. $10 a fight? $10 a fight. Even as champ? Well, he was never the champ. He was supposed to fight Marty Servo, who was a champion, the Worldweight Champion of the world. And my father got drafted in World War II. Wow. And back then you never said you weren't going. Right, right. And they didn't care if you had fights or what, you were going. How long did he serve? Two and a half years. You know, he was overseas and everything, so. And you never got that bug? What's that? You never got that bug to serve? You know what? I was sitting in Isaac Young Junior High School, and I was sitting in social studies.

1:20:34my two friends came out the door come on come on come on so i went out there my friend billy riley and jimmy goodrich he goes come on we're enlisting in the marines i said you're crazy i got a class next you know a little while so they both enlisted you know and uh they were like 17 18 whatever it was they just turned 18 i think yeah and uh i said no i'm not going but i regret

1:21:01Steph McMahon:I'm better not going because I never served. And I wish I did. You know, the Marines or the Army like my dad was in. But I never served because then it was, you know, it was the draft lottery when I was. Right, right. In fact, my birthday was March 1st. March 2nd was number one to go. I was packing my bags. March 1st came up like three something and I never, you know, was for the vote. What a crazy time. Yeah. And you don't know. but it was during the uh back then it was during the vietnam war but my two friends never went to to vietnam another friend of mine went did everybody come back that you knew uh my friend jimmy came but uh years later he took his own life coming out and i've said so it does things to people it does it does i served on the um uso metro board um in dc and you know mental health was one of the biggest things that they try to help with.

1:22:02Steph McMahon:And the toll it takes on the person but also the family. I can't imagine it. I can't imagine it. I've had a number of friends who— He used to hear a car backfire. He hit the ground. Yeah. You know? He was just like that. So wound tight. But that's why I do so many events for children with cancer. I do so many functions. I do the Army. I do, you know, whoever was in the service, I go and I try to give back that way. You know, so. It's important. Yeah. Yeah. I do so many events, you know. I want to ask you about, because I fell in love with the show Sons of Anarchy. Sons of Anarchy, yes. Yeah. Like, I just love that show.

1:22:50Steph McMahon:But, yes, there's sex and violence and it's all great. but to me it was a show about brotherhood and it was a show about family i was literally suing them for two years that show because i went in to fx john land grant who was a president and nick rad with my story called the wild angels about a motorcycle club yeah yeah but i missed my flight and Michael Bregman went in with my story and someone else and gave it to them. Look, this is what we want to do and they said, well, let us think about it. Two weeks later they called. I never made the meeting because I was on a I missed my flight. So they went in for me and two weeks later they called and said, we don't want to do a motorcycle series.

1:23:46We, you know.

1:23:53we pass. I said, okay, it's what it is. So I said, all right. So a year later, we went, and with different representation, we called them, so look, we'd like to see you again. They said, we can't take the meeting because we're working on a motorcycle series. I said, wait a minute. A year ago, you said you didn't want to do one. Now, you already have one in the works. Now you want to do it. Now I believe that Now Kurt Sutter was working on the shield With FX before Sons of Anarchy I believe he saw those guys, what they doing Let me write it and everything else And I said wait a minute You know There's something fishy about here So we started watching this thing And now they come from the town of Charming My name was Charming Chuck In the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club one of the main guys name is Chuck

1:24:49a guy's tattoo was removed you know they use a torch in there took everything from my book so I said okay I'm gonna sue these guys you know so Kurt Sutter gets on he goes you know I don't care about that half ass actor you know Chug Zito if he wants to my partner's a bigger outlaw than him, Rupik Murdoch.

1:25:18Steph McMahon:I was, all right, now I'm going to break this guy's jaw when I go out there because now, of course, my lawyer says, don't start anything. So we had one of those, you know, we had a, you know, like the deposition? Deposition. He came in, three of them came in, Kurt Sutter, Kurt Sutter was last John Landgraf, Nick Radd with their lawyers and me and my lawyer so we're sitting across from each other the lawyer and the person me and their lawyer so I say so they came in and says no we didn't take it out and we says look it's in my book everything else is in it and so now I says when Kurt Sutter comes in here I don't want to break for lunch nothing and I had a leather jacket on with a guinea t-shirt underneath it you know look in every bit the part and what happened and he comes in now I'm sitting across and I'm just looking at him he's not looking nowhere near me he's looking at my lawyer so I take my jacket off it got hot and then I just went like that and looked and that was it so now

1:26:45we finished the meeting everything my lawyer calls me like three days later he goes look Kurt sort of wants to know if you want to meet him I said for what? he goes well he's probably going no first I said what alley does he want to meet me in? so he goes no he's probably going to apologize to you and offer you a part on the show I said no I want to go back to court I forgot, you know, we were supposed to go back to court He said, look, it could be You know, a year from now Are they willing to pay me all my money Right Because he was going to get paid, he's contingency And only get paid if I won the case Right So, oh, I'll appeal it, I wanted to appeal it He goes, look, we appeal it We won't go see the judge for another year They want to give me my money I said, look, you sound like you want to see it I said, alright Tell him meet me.

1:27:37He said, you picked the restaurant. I said, tell him Cafe Roma, Beverly Hills. Now, he gave Charlie Sheen a Sons of Anarchy jacket. Charlie gives it to me to wear to the meeting. So, we meet at Cafe Roma. He comes up to me and he goes, look, I just want to probably, I said, how do you like the jacket? Show him how much I love your show. he goes where'd you get that Charlie had a little tag on it said Charlie he goes is that the one I gave Charlie I said that's right he gave it to me he goes look I know you're a serious person and I just wanted to you know apologize to me I'm a very serious person my thing was to come here and knock you the fuck out tonight you know so he goes look please sit down I apologize for what I said and I'd like to have you on the show you know so we sat down we started talking and I gotta admit 10 minutes later I liked the guy I felt like I knew him for 20 years We just got along so well After talking trash to each other And he apologized to me And I said look as long as you pay my lawyer He goes he's getting paid I said okay then I'll do the show But what they didn't advise me Is they just signed for three more years My lawyer should have said Look he's on it for three years You can't kill him off He's one of the main characters And that's it so what happened was I come in as I came in as Frankie Diamonds from New York, Nomads and I joined their crew so what happened was I was on 8 episodes and they killed me the 8th episode but I could have been on it for 3 more years because those guys still today all those guys, Charlie Hunnam and Mark Boone and David LaBrava, all those guys they still do signings all over the place as Sergeant Vanneke and he'd make a lot of money.

1:29:33But I wasn't on it long enough to get established as being one of those guys. Let's say I'm still friends with all of them. I see them at shows and we're still friends. And still Kurt as well? I haven't seen Kurt since we were off the show or anybody else but who knows? They said they were bringing in the back, but my character died.

1:29:59Steph McMahon:So was it still a good, do you think you could have won? Like, do you feel good about your decision? I think I would have won. Yeah. Because it was going to an appellate court with three judges. Yeah. And what happened was there, I had a great judge who used to go in his chambers. He said, I don't want this to go to court. I want you guys to settle. You know, people from FX, me, my lawyer. I want you to settle. I don't want this. And the guy used to take off his robe. He had a black leather vest underneath it. No way, really? I thought, this guy's cool. He couldn't have got a better judge, right?

1:30:33Yeah, he couldn't have got a better judge. Two years later, I go in, they change judges on me, and I walk in with my lawyer. They walked in with five different lawyers from five different firms.

1:30:44Steph McMahon:Oh, my God. And the judge goes, I don't think they stole Mr. Zito's idea. It was self-created. I go with the studio, dismissed. And I was pissed. I bet. Yeah. So that's when I said I'm going to appeal it. I said, how much did they pay you? Shut up. You both put us in jail. You're for contempt. So. But I had a good run with them. And like I said, me and Kurt became good friends. I'm still friends with all those guys. That's great. And Amelia Rivera is a dear friend of mine. We still see each other at places, you know. Yeah. And we always text each other and everything else. So we're good friends.

1:31:24Steph McMahon:It seems like one of the key lessons, right, from different stories that you've told is just sitting down and talking and listening. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I was pissed a lot of times, but then, you know, of course, with Kurt, we sat down and I felt like I knew him for 10 years. I said, here's a guy, you know. Right. I'm ready to beat up and we're best of friends. Yeah, and the cafe guy was ready to throw you out and you sat down. Oh, yeah. Yes, we sat down. It's like, that seems to be a common theme. You know, with the people who meet me, you know, a lot of people are intimidated, I guess. Sure. Because, you know, for 25 years I was a Hell's Angel.

1:32:03I always went my patch every place I went.

1:32:04Steph McMahon:Well, and most people have not even been remotely in a fight, you know? Yeah. They don't understand physicality or aggression like that. They've never seen it. They've never felt it. And it's very intimidating to them. Yeah. So many guys when I had a fight. And you're such a badass. I mean, also. Well, you are. No, but really. Yeah. Only when I have to be. Only when I have to be. Well, notorious, I think. Sometimes, a lot of times, I had to be. Yeah. So. Yeah. Somebody fights, on the street fights that we had, especially being, you know, down in the East Village. I mean, you're legit, you know, as authentic as they come.

1:32:39And I think you were the first, like, really good bad guy.

1:32:44Steph McMahon:Right? Like, somebody who, you know, had been through a lot and been arrested and all this stuff, but like you, it made you, you know, because of who you are, I think also, and sort of your values. Well, see, I have strict values that my parents instilled in me. You know, one was to respect everybody, your elders especially, and everybody. And I always treated all men equal until they show me otherwise. Yeah, until they give you a reason not to. You know? Yeah. And that was it. Then we take it to the next level. Right, and then you're going to win. Yeah, for sure. But sometimes it had to go that way.

1:33:22Other times it was just, you know, they meet me. Everybody can't believe, you know, what a nice guy I was. In fact, Tegan Machado, which is number one badass out of the Machado brothers, and never lost a fight. He never lost a fight. Jiu-jitsu guy from, you know, well, he was from Brazil. He's got a big school in California. And he does my documentary. He goes, when I first saw this guy, you know, I see him. and he's got this face. I know he's something, you know, the way he talks.

1:33:56But he kind of scared me, you know. I walk across the street if I see him. But he was great. He gave me a great, great interview in my documentary and I told you he's a badass, but talking like that about me. Once I met him, I was over here with Mickey Rourke and he says, you know, he says, Champagne means Sean Penn. I thought he was saying Champagne.

1:34:25Steph McMahon:You know, Champagne. And I said Champagne, and I realized Sean Penn and Mickey Rock over here. But he was a great guy, and he did a great interview for me. I mean, like I said, he's the number one badass. And to say that about me, I'd cross the street. Then I met you. You were such a nice guy. I couldn't believe. It was like, you've got this face, you're scary. And I'd rather cross the street than meet you in a dark alley. Right, coming from him. Yeah, coming from him. Yeah. So that was, you know, made me really feel good. And Dana, you're close with. Is that right? Dana was very close with. You know, the first people that had the UFC was, you know, the Gracies.

1:35:07Yeah. The Gracies. Art Davey, who used to have all the tough man contests. Him. And John Milius, the director. really John Milius is the one who designed the cage yeah back in the day

1:35:19Steph McMahon:I had no idea about that yes wow so the Gracies and John Milius did all the Conan movies yes he did great movies actually he had a stroke years ago and never came out of it you know never came out of it he was a great director we were supposed to do another war movie called Manila John you know he wrote it my friend Pina Tico we were supposed to be in it, but he never came out of it. And he was a great director. And he's the one who came up with all those. I smell napalm in the morning. Really? And make my day. That was him. That was all him. Make my day, you know, everything. And just a great guy.

1:36:02But he designed the cage. And like I says.

1:36:07Steph McMahon:The octagon? The octagon. He designed it. He designed it. He's the one who designed it. Wow. and Art Devo was involved and Hoyer and Gracie were the ones who owned it and they've had it like probably five or six UFC's I was at UFC 1 because Bill Wallace I was I had a karate tournament in Denver, Colorado that's where they had UFC 1 1993 November 12th another thing I was my daughter's birthday I should have been home with her I was out there fighting and I went to the UFC 1 and then once Dana and the Fatidus took it over The Fatidas took it over. Dana was training them in boxing. And they made him the president.

1:36:48And he used to give me 10 front row seats.

1:36:50Steph McMahon:Well, that's right, because that's what he was doing. Yes. Yeah. He was training the Fatidas. And Lorenzo, you know, and he was training them. They bought the, I think it was a million and a half dollars. Wow. They bought it from the Gracies and John, I think for a million and a half, for maybe two to most. Look at it. And they sold it for$4 billion. Yeah. That's a good investment right there. So when they first opened, of course, when they first started, you know, Dana used to give me 10 front row seats. Wow. For all the matches there. And there was only two places. MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay were the only two places that they fought.

1:37:37And then once it got bigger, then it went overseas and went to, you know. Abu Dhabi, of course, I didn't make those. But whenever it's in the T-Mobile arena now, and I go to all of them. But he used to give me 10 front row seats. Then once I started bringing, because I brought a lot of actors there. Sure. People started seeing them. More people started going. Sure. Michael Clark Duncan was seeing it. Kevin James was a martial arts guy who trained with one of the greatest, too, I believe, with Machado. and they started going. Pam Landis was with me. Mike Tyson, all these people. And they used to give me front row seats.

1:38:18Put me on the screen all the time. Sure, sure. You know, from Oz and Sons of Anarchy and everything. And then he started, more people started going. So now they didn't, you know, show me anymore. They started showing these other people. I thought, here we go. So then he gave me five front row seats, five fifth row seats. Uh-oh. Right? That started going all the way. Because what I used to do, I used to get 10. If I took four people with me, it was a lot. So I used to take the rest of the tickets. I would go all the way to the nosebleed section and find people. I would give them the ticket.

1:38:54Steph McMahon:Yeah. And so they could sit next to us. That's cool. Really cool. And I realized the first time I went up there, and it was a girl there with her boyfriend that said it was his birthday. And I went up there. She goes, it's his birthday. I said, well, here's two tickets. Come down. And they didn't realize it was the front row. Right. When they came down, it was like aesthetic. I bet. So people remember that their whole life. Yeah, of course. Of course. So I used to give the tickets away. And then, like I said, now I got five front row, five fifth row. Then after that, I got five front row. Then I went down to three front row.

1:39:28Then I went down to two. I still get two front row teams. I used to tell Dana. I said, Dana, you used to give me 10 front row, Chuck. Back in the day, I used to give you 100 front rows. Nobody came. So we're still good friends today. And, you know, and another friend of mine, Mike San Ciprian from Vegas, he goes to all the UFCs. He gets, you know, front rows. He gets this. He brings me also now. We go up on stage. That's great. Yeah, they give him, you know, gifts and everything. So he's a great guy. and he's big into sports. Big into sports. Wherever he goes, it's got to be the front row. Yeah.

1:40:13Basketball, front row, the court, whatever it is.

1:40:15Steph McMahon:Of course, yeah. Hockey, by the glass. Super Bowl, on the grass. Yeah. On the sidelines. UFC, front row. That's great. Anything. Hockey, same thing. Yeah. Hockey, boxing, everything's front row. He's the best. So what's your favorite wrestling story? and then I'll let you go. My favorite wrestling story? Like that you, because you mentioned on some podcast running into Flair in Japan. It sounded like it might have been a good one. Well, we were there. We were there when Bon Jovi and Joan Jett were there. Okay. So we went to, and Bon Jovi was nobody at the time. Nobody. And we went, I actually saw them at the Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo, Japan.

1:41:02They came up to us I'm John, I used to be in Scream and Mimi and another pretty face and this and that, so they said we're playing tonight, come, so myself and a few Hells Angels went, because we were out there and they were Bon Jovi and we were in a limo and the girls were going crazy banging on the car and everything, and Richie Samborg turns to me and goes, look how they're going crazy he goes, people on my own block don't even know who I am imagine that? a year later, they became the biggest band Wow. Now, I would have did all the security for them. But I went to jail in Japan. Yeah. And then I wound up doing six years.

1:41:40So does that seem true? But I think I would have did all the security for them if I was out. So I missed on that deal. And, of course, Joan was playing. And we, they put us down. We were wanted in Japan, the United States. Knew we were out there. Right, right. We were on front cover of Japanese Times, our pictures.

1:42:00Steph McMahon:Oh, my God. So we went with Joan Jett. She happens to be playing on an army base. And we're in front of all these army guys and MPs and everything. I said, we're going to get busted over here. Instead of being bodyguards, we're going to get busted. So then they left and we wound up waiting until our visas were over. And we wound up surrendering to the American embassy, which I told you that story already and was just crazy. But where does Ric Flair fit in? Oh, so that's what we started talking about. before of course we were staying at the same hotel where the wrestlers were and before of course this all happened so Ric Flair was down there and I said hey Ric I said Chug Zito from the Los Angeles he goes hey how you doing I said I'm a big fan of yours I love wrestling this and that and we started talking and that's when like I said we were at the same hotel with the wrestlers Ric Flair and everybody and then a couple of days later we wound up surrendering to the American Embassy.

1:43:00Steph McMahon:So there's no Great Rick story. No, no Great Rick story. I see him. We're still, of course, friends. And of course, you know, we were all, you know, bawling our eyes out, you know, at Hulk's funeral. Yeah. You know? And it was crazy that that whole week was nuts because I was doing a show, a signing at Chiller with Michael Madsen. Michael died like three days before him or a week before him. So I had to fly out to California. I went to Michael Madsen's funeral. Two days later, I flew to Florida and went to, you know, Terry's funeral. And of course, I saw, you know, Jimmy Hart, everybody, you know, just so, they were so, with, you know, Hulk and Terry for, you know, 40 years.

1:43:50Steph McMahon:Yeah, Jimmy was, you know, everybody was beside themselves. I think his closest person. Yes. They did everything together. Yeah. And in fact, I had a TV show called, it was Roadhouse, Chuck Zito's American Roadhouse. It was like Patrick Swayze's Roadhouse. I was the cooler. Okay. So we would go in and we would fix all these bars up. I would take the bar over, fix it all up, change the names of them. And we did like, we did six episodes, six episodes. They shot and never added. it was for for

1:44:32what channel was it for

1:44:33Steph McMahon:I don't know well they didn't pick it up anyway yeah they never picked it we shot six episodes so they spent all the money but my last episode I said you know I'm always leery about grand reopenings because we have a reopening and everybody speed channel I'm sorry speed channel it was for them and we'd have a grand opening and all the people would come in. So I'm telling the people, the two people, one was a carpenter and one was a bar girl and the two owners of the bar we were at. I said, I'm always leery about grand reopenings, but tonight I have my friends here who live nearby and I'm not worried about any security tonight.

1:45:21And here they come.

1:45:22Steph McMahon:Out comes Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart, the Dudley Boys. Oh, wow. I mean, it was great. That's so fun. And Hulk Hogan would say, hey, we heard you guys heard, but there's not going to be no troubles tonight, man. And everything else, and it was great. So they were talking, and that's in my documentary also, that part. Oh, that's great. Yeah. And the one we saw, Riding. Yeah. That's in it, too. Yeah, that's cool. So it says a little story there, and it was great. Like I said, you know, we miss Hulkster. But there's so many stories in this big city. I could keep you here all night. Sorry to keep you here all so long.

1:45:55No, no.

1:45:57Steph McMahon:I'm very grateful that you would come and be a part of this and tell your stories. And, you know, everybody has to tune into the documentary to hear more, right? They're going to, like I said, it should be by the end of the month be on Amazon Prime. I'm going out on June 16th. I'm doing a big movie called The Last Ride with Richard Greco, who wrote it. He was in 21 Trump Street years ago, if you remember him. He wrote it. He's directing it. It's called The Last Riot, almost like Easy Rider, two guys on a road rioting the whole time. Wow. And it's the first time I'm the star of the movie. It's me and him.

1:46:38So basically, you're going to say Richard Greco, Chuck Zito in The Last Riot, also starring so-and-so. So that's going to be a big movie for me.

1:46:45Steph McMahon:And when does that come out? Well, that won't come out until next year because we're starting to film it. We start July 16th. Okay. And I have to actually fly back on the 20th because as a child and watching Batman all the time, I wound up buying the 1966 Batmobile. No way. From Barrett Jackson. That's so cool. So I've been working on that. That's at Automat Interiors in Hicksville. Wow. They're having the 70th anniversary. the cars are going to be shown there so I have to fly back one day to do the show fly back the next day Father's Day and go to work again so it's going to be pretty wild and that's the day before Father's Day no less the car show so I'm going to go there and since nobody talks to me no more why be the father I really hope for you that well you know what once they see the documentary I think, you know, who knows?

1:47:45Steph McMahon:I hope it brings... It's either going to open up the relationship or make it farther away. Who knows? Yeah. Well, I hope it opens it up in a good way. Because I opened up my heart to everybody here, it's probably going to make me go farther away now. No, I hope that's not the case. And I hope you get to, you know, meet your grandsons. Yeah, they're both grown. They're in their 20s. So I never met them before. Yeah. And... Since family means everything to you, I hope for you. Yeah, family is everything. My family comes first and foremost. I mean, I'm so grateful. I have my mom at 94 years old, my two sisters.

1:48:23You know, I have my nieces, my great nieces and nephews, and I'm always out there seeing them. I go out to my sisters because they live in the same house with my three great nieces and nephews. I'm always out there. I take my 57 Chevy out there. You know, I have a few cars. and I go out there with that and you know it's just a great time and like I said family is everything to me I think I won't let you guys go home because I could talk all night I have a million stories in this big city thank you so much Chuck thank you for inviting me and thank you for that outside that was such a surprise I couldn't believe that I couldn't believe that I'm putting that on my Instagram I'll tell you that

1:49:15Steph McMahon:I have nothing but respect for you Oh thank you, thank you Same here, your family And I've known you for such a long time Yes, we go way back And you've always been the same Thank you so much And Paul is great, I love him And so many people We see each other at different events Different boxing things, everything It's so great All through the years, yeah, it's great so I count you as a dear friend yes same and nice to meet everybody nice to meet everyone here and good luck with the movie and the documentary and everything you have going on the movie is going to be great I believe that's going to be great thank you I hope you didn't stay late because we've been at this podcast for a while

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1:50:46Steph McMahon: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. I 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.

1:51:25Steph McMahon:Hey, 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. 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.