Finn Bálor

25:28But like things like the Goonies and stuff

25:30Steph McMahon:didn't make it to Ireland. At least not in my house. Because like when I came to NXT, like people would be talking about this Goonies. I was like, what are they talking about? Goonies has stood the test of time. So have you now seen the Goonies? I've never seen it like all the way through, but I've seen like little snippets. Is this my homework for tonight? You have to watch. Everything else. And there's an indirect connection to WWE because the Goonies theme song is sung by Cyndi Lauper, who definitely has a history with WWE and the rock and wrestling connection. I like sci-fi movies. Oh, yeah?

26:05Yeah. Sunshine is a great one with Cillian Murphy. And Interstellar was a good one. I love Cillian Murphy. He's great.

26:13Steph McMahon:Peaky Blinders is awesome. I haven't seen the movie yet. We've watched all the seasons like three times through. Yeah. Have you seen Peaky Blinders? I've seen season one and two. I actually watched that when I was rehabbing my shoulder. Oh, good. That injury. Good binge. Yeah, but then if I think about that, I think about the rehab, and I just go, I'm not going to watch the rest of it anymore. Oh, really? Oh, it soured you. Plus, it was at the time where you had to wait a week for the next episode, and I would always forget. Yeah, the binge is where it's at. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I'm annoyed right now at the pit.

26:50Oh, I've heard about this. Even my brother told me about this.

26:53Steph McMahon:And it's Thursdays at 9 o 'clock. You can't watch the next episode. But go back to sci-fi. Okay. Your faves. Yeah, like Interstellar, Sunshine. I used to be into Star Wars, not so much anymore. But right now I'm more into documentaries and actual movies based on history. I watched Nuremberg recently. It was fantastic. Wow. Yeah. and but most of my free time is spent watching youtube videos about ancient history really yeah you and my husband alike yeah he loves that stuff yeah uh yeah did you watch the netflix series like ancient apocalypse yes yeah with graham hancock yeah it's fantastic yeah and that's a great like gateway for people like to explore this topic it's pretty cool it's my homework um well yeah there's a lot of guys out there.

27:45Steph McMahon:So the problem is it puts me to sleep. And I don't mean the concept. Like I'm fascinated. It's his voice and the way he speaks and the sounds and the way, it's like Bob Ross. And I'm like, I find myself going to sleep. But it is fascinating. I wish that I was paying attention more. So what has you like hooked right now about it? Well, there's a couple of YouTube pages I watch. Ancient Architects is one of them. History for Granite is another one And EXT, our mutual friend He has a YouTube page that I follow And it's just like anything about ancient Egypt Like Turkey, there's crazy ancient history in Turkey Peru, Bolivia Do you want to go see it?

28:31Yeah, I want to go to all those places

28:32Steph McMahon:Yeah And does your wife want to travel too? She wants to travel to Turkey for sure She's super interested in Constantinople That's great Yeah, so we'd love to go there And how did she get into it? She's always been into history, and she's especially into like mid-1900s, like Renaissance period. We've been to like Rome and Florence a few times. She's super into the Medici family. Oh, wow. Yeah, so she's like really read up on that. That's awesome. That's so cool. Yeah, I go like a little older. Well, a lot older. How much older are you than her? No, I mean like in the history terms. I know, but I mean, are you?

29:11Two years in real life. Oh, no. Yeah, yeah. Barely two years.

29:14Steph McMahon:I didn't know if there was a connection there to age differential. No, no, no. No, yeah, her stuff is about 500 years old. Her history, like, that she likes, and mine's, like, about 4 ,000. Wow. 4 ,000 plus. That's super cool. Yeah. Why do you think that is? I'm just fascinated by, like, what did the world look like back then? Yeah. And, like, what machinery did they have or what techniques did they have that we clearly don't have now that they used to build all these structures and cut these stones and move these stones. So you're interested as well in the pyramids and how they seem to have discovered everything that's underneath you, don't you?

29:54No, I think that's been debunked pretty solidly. I don't know. I've heard a lot of things that don't say that. We can agree to disagree. Okay.

30:03Steph McMahon:I only know third hand from listening to various podcasts. So certainly no research done on my part. Look, of course, like I wanted that to be true more than anyone. But I've really researched it a lot. And until like there's more evidence, I'm not going to buy it. Sure. Because right now it's just one type of technology, right, that can see and it can't see very well. Yeah, it's like synthetic aperture radar. But so there's better tech coming. There's like a shovel you can use and you can just dig down and see what's there. So, but now would you, here's a real question. Would you go into the like, the sort of claustrophobic tunnels, what I'm going to call it?

30:46So that's obviously like bucket list for me. Really? I've yet to go in there, but little known fact about me is I'm hyper claustrophobic. Really? To the point where like, I can't even have a window seat on the airplane.

30:58Steph McMahon:Really? Like I would rather a middle seat than a window because it's like one less person to like jump over, you know? But the window doesn't give you like that saving space. No, that's like a wall. And now there's two people here. It's not outside. There's a wall on this side and two people here. I'm like, oh, no. You might be the first person ever to say they prefer the middle seat. Yeah. Not over an aisle. Okay. What would be your mental game in the chamber then? Now here you are. You've been climbing for like. That's terrible. You're trying to take them there. I was going to, but I won't go too deep.

31:33Steph McMahon:but it's like, say maybe even five minutes, right? Not even that long. You're in the pyramid. Yeah, in the King's Chamber. And you're like, things are starting to feel tight and constricted. And now there's a line of people behind you. And if you were to turn around, they all have to turn around. No, I'm not turning around in this situation. This is the pyramid's once in a lifetime opportunity. So how do you get there in your head? How do you overcome that kind of claustrophobia? The same way you overcome like not wanting to go to the gym. Like you just put your sneakers on and then like you pick up your bag.

32:07There's no other option. Like it's one step in front of the other. Yeah. Yeah.

32:10Steph McMahon:No other option. Yeah. That's sort of how you approach things. Yeah. And especially if I'd flown all the way from United States or Ireland all the way to Egypt, I'm not going to like chicken out at the last 10 meters. So what is your end goal? Like how deep do you want to go in there? Deep as you can? I want to go into like the King's Chamber and like lay down in the granite box. Wow. Can you do that? you know the right people yeah i don't think it's even that i think it's literally the people that you know yeah yeah um yeah that's cool yeah yeah so peru was some place and what do you believe

32:52Steph McMahon:and are you um i know you're a creative thinker but you seem to be a very fact-based person yeah so like what is your perspective so i went down the traditional uh like storyline i guess of history and then i kind of like swerved a little bit to like an alternative history like of what's been thought but now i think i'm back to the traditional oh yeah the more the more like i research the other theory is that there was advanced technology here before right i definitely think there was advanced technology but what that is i don't know it could have been like humming to like levitt like some sort of like frequencies or sounds that like we understood different yeah i'm not necessarily talking about like cranes and saws right but there was something that those people knew that we can't do now yeah it's interesting yeah like there's no way they can like build it that precise.

33:54Steph McMahon:I've heard theories about sound wave technology. Yeah. And the things it can do. And then I've heard conspiracy theories, right? Then the government came in and changed the frequency of what you can listen to and all that stuff. Yeah. And they changed the colors of the lights. Yeah. And the wattage and all that. Yeah. But I, like, like all these conspiracies are like super interesting and like can be like super attractive. Sure. Like what nobody's going into that much trouble to like pull the wool over people's eyes maybe there is some truth in the fact that the wattage has changed and it is worse for us but i don't think that was someone going oh i have a plan i'm gonna mess up all the people by changing the light bulbs like our wi-fi is gonna poison everyone it's my plan like you know evil mastermind i know that was snidely whiplash so have you seen Age of Disclosure?

34:51yes

34:51Steph McMahon:so what do you think about that? UFOs Age of Disclosure was UADs now? again that would be yeah UAPs UAPs yeah unidentified anomalous phenomenon I think it means so basically I don't know why it had to change from UFO I think it's to do with like the zeitgeist and like like UFO had such a bad connotation and like little green aliens these things seem to go in and out of water as well exactly yeah it's not just flying exactly you know your stuff I'm learning wow yeah what was the question again about oh Age of Disclosure yeah that's like that's kind of ancient apocalypse and Age of Disclosure would be like the perfect gateway documentaries into those topics yeah most of Age of Disclosure I knew already but it's super interesting really really interesting stuff and there's like it's like a it's weird because everyone has a phone so you think there should be more evidence of these alien or even these this phenomenon in the sky whether it's an orb or a craft but there's not a lot but there's still a lot of like people talking about it there's like way too many people So have you seen the Bob Lazar story?

36:13Yeah, and S4, his new documentary came out last week about it. Yeah. Yeah, that's really good too.

36:19Steph McMahon:Yeah. And that's a real good, because I'd heard Bob Lazar's story for many years, but I guess now you can visualize it because he's been part of, I guess, they used some sort of AI imagery to create what he described. I think they made it by hand even. You're right, yeah. I think they used some AI, Because I just listened to them on Rogan, on Joe Rogan. So that's how I knew about it. But I think it was made by hand. Yeah, I think. But recreated. Yes. And Bob Lazar said it looks absolutely specifically what it was. And that's what Logan has a video of? Oh, have you talked to Logan? I haven't talked to him, but I've seen the video he put out the other day.

37:02Steph McMahon:What video did he put out the other day? Did he put it out? He did put it out. And nobody thinks it's anything? Well, you can't really see much in it. It's supposed to release it on our pod. That's the problem, right? It's like everyone says, there's so many people talk about it, but there's so little credible evidence. Except these saucers that Pablo Azar seems to have come in contact with. That's one person saying it, right? And we have to believe them. Well, but no, it's not, because then you add in the age of disclosure people, and now there's more people. But what I'm saying is there's lots of people saying lots of things.

37:33Steph McMahon:Yeah, that's true. But show us the proof. We don't have anything physically. So there is some truth to it, I'm sure. Do you believe we walked on the moon? Do I believe in what? That we walked on the moon as people. I've gone back and forth over this for years. And I'm back on the side that we did go. But I also have a feeling maybe we didn't stop going. That we didn't get out? Well, no, we've been going the whole time since the 70s. And they just don't publicize it. haven't talked about it. That's interesting. Like they have some crazy. I don't know. How could you launch a rocket with people not knowing?

38:10Steph McMahon:It seems like. Might not be a rocket. You think our technology has already advanced past that? Well, there's so much money wasted in like black budget projects. Right. That like, where's that going? Wouldn't it be nice to know it was actually getting used somewhere? Got a space elevator to the moon. That it's not just crashing. Look, I want to believe in all these crazy conspiracies. I don't know. They're just all so fascinating. I'm on the fence. I'm super into them. like I love entertaining them but like if it came to the crunch like on camera like on the record right you're taking a polygraph I'm gonna say I'm gonna lean on on the no but I do but you're a storyteller I do believe there's alien life I do believe alien life has visited earth I just don't know in like what context yeah you know are we like an ant farm for them you know and they're just coming and monitoring us oh yeah i've heard that too yeah yeah and that we were engineered yeah i've heard all that stuff too what if they're messing with the lights it's possible new theory yeah then there's other stories about like uh they've been here all along they live like under the ground yeah they're not coming from the space yeah under water yeah um lots of lots of i'll literally I won't give you any good content about this.

39:32I'm going to go, yeah, it could be real, could be not. I'm super interested in it. I'll waste most of my free time on these type of topics.

39:40Steph McMahon:See, that's where it's a great conversation. Yeah, but I'm not attached to either side. You're not a believer, so to speak. I believe everything. I believe it's true and I believe it's fake. You're not hard on it. I believe the guys who debunk it on. I believe the guys who say it. It's all interesting. MH370 is another one. Have you looked down that rabbit hole? No, I haven't seen that one. Oh, yeah. Okay. There's a couple good documentaries about how that was teleported to a wormhole. No. Yeah, as a shot, as like a show of strength from the government towards China. There's a guy, Ashton Forbes, if you look up him, he goes into it in depth.

40:21Steph McMahon:All right, we've got it. And again, it's banana. I don't have to remember. It's banana stuff, but like it's super entertaining. Yeah, I'm totally going to look. Well, it's so fun, right? I mean, and it's just, that's the thing, right? It's fun. Yeah, it's literally like a type of entertainment. And I don't think we'll ever get the answer. It's kind of like The Inquirer. Was that a newspaper? Oh, Inquiring Minds Want to Know. Yes, it was like a tabloid. Oh, okay. And it would be like Alien Baby was on the cover of almost every. Oh, really? Yeah, but it would have a picture. They were usually pretty bad.

40:57Steph McMahon:Yeah, pretty bad quality. But people love the National Enquirer and had subscriptions. Wow. Yeah. It's like as humans, our entertainment is sort of still the same. It just changes in format. Yeah. You know. And all these topics are to me are like entertainment. They're super entertaining. I'm not like attached to anyone. You know what Paul always tells me? because like I'll go deep with some of this stuff or some of the other stuff that's out there. And then he's like, yeah. And at the end of the day, how does this impact your day? Yeah, I know. Like what? Yeah. Does anything change for you? I'll be having breakfast sometime.

41:37Believing something. I'll be having breakfast talking to Vero and like, you know, I'll say, oh, you want to see this thing I seen last night about stuff in Peru and tunnels, like going from Cusco to Peru. She'll just like roll her eyes and go, okay, dude, come on, who said this? get it out i know you want to say it and again like is i'll you know be up all night like not being able to sleep but then i'll like you know get up the next morning be like okay well i gotta go to work or gotta go train like yeah it's not really gonna affect my life no and but it's just yeah maybe one day it will do you think well do you think there'll be disclosure i have no idea

42:14Steph McMahon:yeah but you know i'm kind of in the same boat you are like i i love to listen to it yeah i think certain things I can see like one of the things I found so fascinating at an age of disclosure was the notion of physics principles that apparently can't exist with gravity or something like that and of course I'm gonna this is me watching a movie here yeah um and maybe a couple podcasts but the time-space continuum around the craft, right? The bubble and how it works, how it modifies space and time. And that is, and how it explains how they're able to fly like up to a rocket that's going 4 ,000 miles an hour or whatever and it flies up to the rocket.

43:04Steph McMahon:They see it on technology. And then it flies to the side and it shines a light. according to these people and then it goes above and it goes below and then it leaves like you shouldn't be able to catch up to a rocket yeah given our how fast are they going right and faster obviously and then um how it goes in and out of the water and that's been observed a lot by the military yeah so so one of the main uh videos or the first videos was recorded at the miami air show because there was a lot of people like oh wow video on the airplanes and then i guess a guy the next day was looking back through his footage and he noticed like a little flicker on the screen so he played it like in super slow motion and you see this little like something like a little ball come out of the out of the ocean and just straight up into the sky in a split second that's why people haven't seen it and i live in miami now so i'm always like looking at the water i'm like looking at the water and i do this i do this thing so my my wife works for telemundo and she works uh on a night show so I'll be at home alone right most nights and I'll like look out the window and be looking at the sky and I'll like look at the stars and I'll say hey guys I know you're there come say hello I'm friendly I swear right and I'll do this like most nights maybe you'll you'll make something happen yeah I think he can like if it's out there maybe I can like bring it towards me weird alien virtual reality movie and it was I think it was UK based um oh god did anybody see anything that matches this description and so you'd get the headset and you'd put it on and you'd have to play the game and everybody experienced it was um ultimately because this alien race had been contacted and they were on their way but it was going to take them light years right like it's gonna but they're in route and they're communicating with us and it's the technology that they use to communicate with us to find out who we are um only the people who can figure it out can have this direct communication is this no i don't think that's the name of it no that's say it again three body problem yeah it's awesome Okay, well, that's going on after WrestleMania.

45:21I loved it.

45:22Steph McMahon:I loved it. It was, but yeah, and it's still at the end of the day, a human story, right? And it's like, but it's cool. It's like a fascinating concept. Yeah, I'm going to check that one out. I hope I didn't give anything away. I'll have forgotten anyway. Okay, good. I also think like this idea of like sending like radio signals into space to like try and like make contact. Also in this movie, yeah. But I think it's quite dangerous. like if I'm in the jungle like at nighttime I'm not gonna be like going hey you know because like a tiger is gonna come and eat me right right like that's kind of like what we're we're playing with like by sending those radio signals out I agree we don't know what's out there we're our happy little blue green planet yeah you want to go to the craziest one like the flat earth stuff and like the ferment and like you can't actually get out there I don't I don't know a lot of that I I don't believe that.

46:13Steph McMahon:I haven't even given that one much. That's one I don't even entertain, I'll be honest with you. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Yeah, come on. Thank God. I was worried you were going to say, yeah, I believe that one too. Yeah, no. No. Yeah. I haven't agreed to any of them. Steph, did you watch Artemis take off? Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was impressive, huh? It was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I was a little disappointed they didn't live stream as much as possible. Like everything that was possible to live stream. Should have been live streamed, I think. Like what? Like what did they miss? Like the whole journey there should have been live streamed.

46:46Steph McMahon:Yeah. Do you think it's like a lawsuit kind of thing? I feel like it gives. God forbid something happens. Do you watch it live? Well, yeah. The landing was like we had a bunch of kids sitting watching and we're all like, I kind of hope nothing happens. Right. Yeah. I mean, I was in fourth grade when the challenger blew up. Yeah. I can't imagine. And we were all watching. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, of televisions. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, did we talk about this? No. Really? We've recently discussed it, I think, yeah. But yeah, I remember that. Christy McCullough, right? Yeah. And we all, like as a kid, right, you know what a teacher is.

47:33Steph McMahon:You're so excited for me. There's a teacher up there. That was very hard. So I think that's why they might not. I mean, that's my guess. But still, we would have, if devil's advocate. I'm not saying it's right. No, no, no. You've seen Challenger explode live on TV. And you would have seen Artemis if that had been the case because it was live on TV. Right, that's true. But what I'm saying is once they get out of that risky element and they're on the trajectory to the moon, I feel like that all should have been live streaming. That would have been cool. That would have been cool. I don't know. They've got to go back.

48:06Do you think they've seen anything on the dark side of the moon that they're not allowed to tell us about? It's a great question. Because that's another reason why I wanted it live streamed. Now, I know you can't live stream from the other side of the moon, but...

48:16Steph McMahon:Could they just put cameras on the outside of the shuttle? Yeah. My theory is that they can't edit a live stream. And if there was any kind of orbs that showed up that looked suspicious or weird. No, I agree. I think there's all kinds of stuff. There's many, many reasons I could think of it. Live stream. It would have been really cool, though. It would have been. Yeah. And what is out there? Would you like to go to space? You know, it's funny. I would like to say yes because I'm like a big risk taker. And I do think it would be beautiful to see the earth from space. One of the things I loved was the one astronaut who seemed to have like a spiritual awakening on this journey.

49:00Steph McMahon:And he came back and was just so grateful for everything and saw humanity. like you were saying the elephant's so close. Yeah. Like we're all alone. Yeah. I think it's like the overview effect they call it where like you zoom out and you can see the whole earth and see how fragile it is. Yeah. And like we are an ant colony, right? The only thing we have is each other. Yeah. And like when you see the earth from space, like there's no borders. Right. That's right. There's no colors. There's no religions. No. Like it's just like a little place that we all live on. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's. I think it would be something beautiful.

49:38It'd be something if like everyone on the planet could experience that. Yeah. And it might bring us a little closer together. It would if, if people would be willing to see it.

49:53Steph McMahon:Some people just aren't willing to look at it any differently. Right. But well, some people don't even have the capacity to think about it because they're so busy struggling day to day to survive and get by and make money to like feed their kids and pay mortgages and rents so for some people like I feel very lucky that I'm able to like have a comfortable life to not have to worry about like day-to-day stuff and like entertain myself with these wacky ideas you know because it's really just like fill and avoid that like is there because I've had like incredible success in this business. Because you've been an incredible success in this business.

50:40Steph McMahon:And you've had incredible success. But I'm just saying, I'm highlighting where you are. Well, I feel very fortunate for the life that I have. And that life affords me free time to like entertain these ideas where like my brothers like have to work. Right. Like nonstop. Right. Like raise their kids and pay mortgages. and they don't have time to even entertain this. And if I say to my brother, like, hey, did you hear about this S4 documentary? He said, no, dude. Like I was taking my daughter to dance and then I was taking my son to football. Right, right, right. Yeah. It's like dealing with real life.

51:14Yeah, exactly.

51:17Steph McMahon:Big news, WWE and sports fans. The world's number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest, is making its return to New York City. Fanatics is bringing you closer to the leagues, teams, superstars, and athletes you love across four action-packed days in July. Meet your favorite WWE superstars, get your hands on exclusive merch, and interact with the biggest names in sports. Then fans of the show can get a 10 % discount by using Steph10 at checkout. That's S-T-E-P-H, the number one, the number zero, at checkout. So, I don't know, this is kind of a loaded question. So if you don't feel comfortable or we feel like it's too sensitive, I don't have to ask it.

52:08Steph McMahon:Do you feel like you should feel guilty because you have this extra time that your brothers don't? Oh, I've had that guilt for a long time. But do you think you should?

52:27I've been thinking about this recently and the guilt has been getting more prominent the longer my career has gone and I think earlier in my career when like you're chasing you're chasing the dream and you're trying to be successful and you're trying to make money to get yourself comfortable to get yeah like that's uh I'm sacrificing time with my family to like follow my dream right and achieve these targets that I've set myself and like when I've kind of I've achieved more than I could ever have imagined in this business and I've reached all these like targets and goals that I've ever imagined really once I won the universal title like that one time yeah that for me that was the top of the mountain and like I know a lot of people say oh what if he didn't get hurt whatever but that's the highest you can get yeah that's like a lot of people say oh he got hurt and he relinquished the title that's like a that's like a tragedy but like for me it's a success story like I got to the top so once I got there and then like I became like financially comfortable like through the company that's where I started to question like why am I doing this now because I'm away from all the people that I love like my family are at home in Ireland I'm here in America like wrestling and before it was a trade off of you're not with your family but you're following your dream now I'm not with my family but I have my dream and I have, like I don't need anything else here I don't need any more money I don't need any more success I don't need any more attention so why am I doing it?

54:09Steph McMahon:Why are you doing it? I don't know Are you driven to do it? No, I'm driven to be in the ring and perform at the highest level every time I get in there. And I want to be in there, but I still don't know is that worth not being with family. I know the question. And I know there's going to be a point in my life where I'm definitely going to regret it. but I also know that my family will be upset with me if I gave up this to be with them they'd be like well what are you doing here you should be you should be resting while you can't they'd want you to be happy so you need to think about what makes you happy yeah because you bring whatever it is you're feeling you bring that home right like anybody yeah and if what you're doing fulfills you and makes you happy then when you are home you're like a greater person to be around yeah and whereas if you're unhappy and the only time you have with them you're like you know you're not your best self because you're upset for whatever reason yeah they can feel that too so i would think that they would want you to do what makes you happy but that's up to you to figure out like i'm with my wife in the united states and it's the two of us she lives her family live in Mexico City, my family live in Ireland.

55:30So we're kind of like here, like we've got our own little island, which is beautiful and we've a great relationship, but there's certainly an aspect of like loneliness, like where we don't have a support system. And that's always the kind of the thing that I question, like, should I be doing this job?

55:53Steph McMahon:and sacrifice an absinthe you know and you you guys moved to mexico and she could be with her family and you could like be a part of this now you know part of wwe that's pretty fascinating it's super fascinating but again i don't know if i want to give up wwe oh right because i want to perform at the top i want to be on the biggest shows i want to be on wrestlemania i want to be on summer slam i want to be on raw but deep down i struggle daily with like what i'm giving up for that right and it's not like i get so i want to say jealous like but i'm so envious of the guys who have their families here in the united states and they just like fly home on tuesday morning after raw they fly home and they're with their kids and with their mom and they're they can go see their dad or whatever like for me and vero we just like come home from work but our families are still far away so what's the solve on that like whose family would you go live near if we don't have a solve well as to solve would be like 50 50 like if i want once i'm done wrestling maybe do like a couple months in u.s couple months in mexico a couple months in ireland that would be the dream well there you go and i realize how like blessed i am to have that opportunity to do that so that's plan yeah that's a plan for sure so then you can work backwards yeah i don't want this to come across like like super like depressing and sad because i am well i love my job love you so there there will be some of that you know because they want you to love it right but here's here's where i think here's what i hope yeah no matter and the company is is different than it was um but no matter how much things change what hopefully will never change is what we do in the ring and hopefully what will never change is the culture of the people because it is and i'm going to talk about this in my speech but it is the most loving supportive community i think that there is and sure there's a lot of hate on social or whatever but but for the most part we come from all over the world and all different backgrounds, all different political affiliations, whatever they might be with anyone.

58:10Um, and from Africa to, you know, Boston, Massachusetts, like

58:18Steph McMahon:we all love this business and I hope and pray that our culture and community never changes. And I really don't think it ever will. I can't see it changing. Yeah. Cause it is who we are. Yeah. And I think like, um, there's so many good role models, like for me to look up to. And then now that I'm kind of like one of the older statesmen in the locker room, it's like my responsibility to like show those guys like the right way how to act and how to be like in the business, like not in the ring, but right. Right. So I feel like we have enough good guys that can like show the next generation and the next generation.

59:03And I think the business itself is in a really good place. I'm just not sure where my place is.

59:09Steph McMahon:Because it's got to be right for you. Yeah. I mean, it does. Yeah. And that's. And I always kind of like imagine myself going back to Japan to finish my career in Japan. Yeah. Like even when I even like I didn't want to leave Japan, but I kind of wanted to roll the dice with WWE and give it a try. And like if I had a year at NXT and then it didn't work out, I would have happily went back to Japan. Wow. What do you love about Japan? I like how everything is just exactly as you see it. There's no bullshit. Like people are straight with you. It's yes or no answers. And everything's clean, organized.

59:52maybe I was immune to the politics because I didn't speak the language so good so I was kind of like ignorant to that stuff and obviously when you look back on any time romantically you always kind of hold that up higher so you fell in love there at some point I fell in love with Japan but I don't want to go back to wrestling in Japan I don't think I'd love to go back to Japan spend time there

1:00:24Steph McMahon:maybe it'll be one of your quarters maybe you needed a fourth and when we go back with WWE it's absolutely incredible to perform for WWE in Japan that's the dream that would be awesome maybe we can set up an NXT Japan now you're talking Paul might need a right hand man to run it he might you should mention that to him Yeah, me and Shinsuke I think would do a good job over there, right? Yeah, hell yeah. Oh, man. That would be awesome. Yeah. God, that would be incredible. That would be really cool. Go back to my dojo training days. Yeah, 500 squats out the gate. There you go. So tell me about that culture.

1:01:11So I was 24 years old. I'd moved to my aunt's house in Boston to do like independent wrestling. And I got seen by a scout who said, hey, do you want to come and train with us in Los Angeles? We're affiliated with New Japan Pro Wrestling. I said, of course, I would love to go train. So I was training there about two months. And they said, hey, we like what you're doing. We'd like you to come and be a young boy for three months. And like you won't wrestle. And did you know what that meant? Yes, I was very familiar. So basically. Not a good surprise. Yeah. Basically to be a young boy in wrestling in New Japan is kind of like to be an apprentice.

1:01:53So your role is really to clean the dojo, to clean the house, to wash the gear of the older wrestlers which are called senpai, it's like your senior wrestler and to train. So we would wake up every morning, we would clean the dojo, clean the ring, clean the house, clean the toilets, clean outside the street. Everything was very like military precision, right? systematic yeah from there we would go in the into the dojo we would start with 500 squats 200 push-ups some rope climbs then we would do like blow-up drills like burpees and skipping and then the wrestlers would come yeah like jump jump rope okay yeah yeah yes because skipping is actually

1:02:33Steph McMahon:hard it's hard with your kids you're like damn that's actually kind of a workout I couldn't picture you guys skipping around I was trying I'm sorry so that was it so I was kind of there to do like a three month internship in New Japan and after a couple weeks of training they said we'd like you to have a match and I had my first match and all of a sudden I'm on the shows now but I'm in the opening spot and part of the culture was like hey you're not allowed to wear like any flamboyant gear like the young boys have to be very like kind of discreet so it's like like black boots black tights and then I remember it was like the end of my three months like excursion there and I was about to go home and Liger who was the booker at the time came to me said we'd like you to come back like would you like to come back and I said absolutely this is my dream and yeah three months turned into like eight years yeah that's amazing yeah and I and And I thought I was going to stay there my whole career.

1:03:37Steph McMahon:Did you learn the language? I never like consciously studied a book, but like I picked up a lot. Right, conversational. Because you're immersed in it. Yeah. So like, you know, I could like, where's the train station? Like, where's the toilet? Can I get some beers? Yeah. Simple stuff. Yeah. Like I knew how to tell the taxi driver how to take me home and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.

1:04:09And I thought I was going to stay there for my career. Then I came here. And it's weird because I always thought like England was going to be the biggest chunk of my career doing six years there. And I thought like, oh, you'll do a couple months in Japan and then just move home to Ireland. And then all of a sudden I'd done eight years in Japan. And I thought like when I came to NXT, well, Japan's always going to be the biggest chapter in my career. I'm going to do like a year or two in NXT and be finished. And now I think I'm 12, 13 years here with the company.

1:04:36Steph McMahon:so so you never thought i mean you did though right you thought the main roster was and becoming the champ that was the end goal that's the end goal for everyone that's right but did you not think that it was possible it was so far of a stretch of reality growing up in a small town in ireland to be wwe champion that my goal when i started training in england was simply to have one match but like that was like my target do you think that that's a good life strategy when you're you know approaching something that you love to to do it in chunks like that and to be forward-looking but not so forward-looking or do you think it's better to have your destination you know and then do every little thing you can look I know I know there's this like belief of people like visualizing and like making your dreams reality by like picturing yourself holding the title and all.

1:05:34That's something I've never done.

1:05:36Steph McMahon:Right. I've always been like, no, like, what's the next thing I have to do? Right. You're always looking one step back. And I compartmentalize everything and like approach it like step by step. I've never like thought, like, how do I get to from A to Z? I need to get from A to B first. Right. Yeah. Then figure out the rest. 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. Topps Now is enhancing the fan experience by connecting collectors to the superstars and spectacles that ignite their passion.

1:06:20Steph McMahon: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. 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 Topps Now mailing list on Topps.com and follow Topps on all social media platforms so you never miss a single moment.

1:07:10Where did your artistic abilities come from? childhood I was always like drawing and sketching and painting and that was like by far like my strongest subject in in school I pretty much like flunked out of most classes except except art

1:07:28Steph McMahon:you just weren't interested yeah yeah I'm like I wasn't a bad student yeah because I feel like we've like there's definitely uh truth to the statement that we've been taught the same way for like 100 years. Yeah, I mean, things have changed. We should probably change that. Yeah, I think there should be a lot more variety into the way kids are educated. I mean, I know my mom is working very hard on that. Yeah. Every state is working on that. But yeah, it's like there needs to be a wholesale change and every individual learns differently and how can AI help with that, right? Where some kid's more advanced and gets a different direction than some kid who's struggling in whatever given subject, right?

1:08:12Steph McMahon:so that everybody advances at their own level versus those at the top kind of getting bored because they've already learned it and those at the bottom feeling like they never actually really learn it so they're always behind. Yeah, feeling like less adequate than everyone, right? And everyone else seems to know what the hell they're talking about.

1:08:32Yeah, but yeah, art was like the one thing that I felt like I could express myself easily with. So I would draw and doodle and paint and my art grades were great and my like other grades were terrible.

1:08:43Steph McMahon:Yeah. Yeah. What, was there a particular, like did you, was painting more of what you were into or sketching or? Probably my, I was best at like pencil drawing. Okay. But like I did do some painting and stuff like that too. Do you find yourself ever doodling on the road? Like do you ever grab a sketchbook and? Yeah, occasionally like I'll doodle out like ideas for the demon or different stuff. you know what I'd love to do as a job in the company going forward? I have no pull

1:09:16I'll keep it to myself then

1:09:19Steph McMahon:I'm not going to share this good idea I'm very interested in how visually the show looks so like the screens the lighting, how we present people, the presentation of it the smoke and the fireworks and stuff like that, I'm very interested in that and how we could adapt that and change it make it better and more interactive. I've always thought we should have more beach balls in the crowd. Well, we do after WrestleMania, right? Typically, it's the UK crowd. They come in, they do it. Which is quite ironic because beach balls in England are not something. The weather is pretty terrible. That is weird.

1:09:56Steph McMahon:Only in WWE. I'm also impressed you called it soccer and not football. I know well. I've been conditioned now. I've been conditioned. Damn. You have lived here a long time. You know, depending on who I'm speaking to, I'll either say like rubbish or garbage, you know, and things like this, you know. Like Seamus, you'll differentiate, you'll say rubbish. Yeah, yeah. If I'm talking to Seamus, yeah, throw that in the bin. Throw that in the bin for me. Yeah, and he knows what you're talking about. I gotta go to the loo. If I'm talking to you, I'll say, yeah, can you put that in the trash? I would never ask you to put something in the trash for me.

1:10:24Oh, no? Why not? Except this podcast, maybe. Oh, no, you don't like him. No, just this episode. Just this episode.

1:10:37Steph McMahon:that wasn't a shot i'm sorry it's a good episode you or you just feel uncomfortable i just don't like talking about myself yeah but it's more your perspective on things yeah right like this is that i mean it's however you want it to be right this particular pod and conversation is open yeah so you know i must i must say um and my wife will be happy i said this that my wife absolutely adores you and like she she feels that you are responsible solely for the women's evolution oh god bless her certainly i am not yeah you know um that took everybody everybody male and female truthfully to make that happen yeah um but that's so sweet of her well if it was a team effort you were certainly captain of the team i was part of the team yeah part of the But that's very sweet.

1:11:32She's very excited to see you get inducted into the Hall of Fame.

1:11:35Steph McMahon:No. Please tell her thank you. Are you nervous about the Hall of Fame? Hopefully I get to give her a hug. Are you nervous about it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay, the tables have turned. I only this week got into the acceptance part this week. And so now I'm good and I'm excited. But now it's Thursday. Yeah. It's tomorrow. So now I'm getting nervous again. And my kids just got here. And my mom and my girls are inducting me. Oh, fantastic. Yeah. And it's so, it's amazing. Yeah. You know, and I told them, because they're all worried about what they're going to say, you know. And I'm like, guys, I don't care if you don't say anything.

1:12:19Steph McMahon:Just you being up there. Yeah. Like representing who I hold most dear. You know, and Paul, he said he's going to sit there in the front row and it's like, that's everything, you know? Yeah. I think I would be more nervous for Hall of Fame than WrestleMania. It's crazy. Yeah. And it's, it is a process, right? And it's funny because Paul asked me because he interviewed me the other day and he asked me because he knows what it feels like because obviously he's a Hall of Famer. And he said, did you find yourself starting to relive a lot of things you had forgotten? And I was like, yes. I feel like that's the best part about the speech writing.

1:13:05Steph McMahon:It is. You like get to remember every moment you had to get to this place. And it's crazy to think about really. Your life is wild. Wild. And it's so fun. I'm so blessed. I'm so blessed. What a wild ride. And it's not over. No, I know. It's not. not at all yeah that's how I feel totally um but it is still 50 years of my life and looking back on that and like all of these things that I just forget yeah you know because they were just such a part of my life my regular life and so often like in this business like we kind of we never look backwards right because like there's always the next show so soon always and I always get like asked like oh you're happy with like what you've done in your career like i always say no like i want want the next thing right i'm not looking that way like i'm looking this way and like someday i will look back right and go oh that was cool but like i'm not ready to look back yet no yeah it's it's funny though um i just watched sean's documentary and he talks about being able to appreciate the moment yeah and sometimes we're so busy moving forward yeah that we don't take in what's happening yeah when it's that real time yeah you know and i think that's important to try to do that as much as possible yeah i think it's also important and this is something i don't do enough and i'm trying to do more is like actually like celebrate an achievement yes you know because like it kind of like exclamation points it hell yeah and like feel good about it Yeah, and for the longest time, like I'd stopped going to the WrestleMania after party because just it's not my scene.

1:14:53I just don't want to be in the room with people. You do it the next day. Yeah, yeah, well, that too, right? I've just gotten beat up in front of thousands of people. But I remember last year, like it was the first time in a long time I actually went to the after party. And it was, I remember that more than I remember WrestleMania. And it was just like such a good atmosphere to be around. Oh, that's so great. Yeah, yeah. So I really hope there's an after party this year. Yeah.

1:15:18Steph McMahon:I don't know even. Yeah. Yeah. I'll talk to TR about that. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I can put it on my list. Yeah. My list doesn't go anywhere.

1:15:33Steph McMahon:I do feel like that's a pretty good practice. Like when you hit 50, you should stop and reflect on. Yeah. Yeah, like that's a kind of a beautiful like pause and think about how great and maybe not so great and. Lessons you've learned. Yeah. How far you've come really, because we all make mistakes, you know, and we all hurt people along the way, unintentionally or intentionally, you know. But, you know, we it should be a celebration. We get as far as we do. Right. Like life is life is a journey. and it's funny I was going to ask you I heard Diana Nyad who I quote all the time and she was this woman who swam from Cuba to Florida and she started trying in her 20s she wasn't successful until her 60s she took a big break in the middle but it was an incredible story there's a book on it if you're interested but her quote was it's not about who you become once you reach your destination it's about who you become along the way.

1:16:41Steph McMahon:And I think that's so beautiful. And it's like, we're all, we're all human. We're all learning. We're all growing, hopefully on this journey and we're going to make mistakes and that's okay. Yeah. You know, and we should, we should feel good about ourselves and where we are and not have to feel, um, any other way about it. You know, it's our life. We only have one life yeah just enjoy it enjoy it it goes so fast I think I'm very guilty of like putting off pleasure like saying like oh I'll celebrate that in the future or when I'm when I'm retired I'll do that yeah which in a lot of cases has to be the case for example to go to Egypt and Peru you need like weeks right which I don't have right so I actually hope I make it to that point I don't know you could maybe take a very well planned couple months or something I don't know I knew we were adding it to the list Elise will you put that on the list please thank you item number four maybe we could do like a Netflix collaboration with Graham Hancock and Finn Balor totally yes on my list I like that one well and Paul and probably Logan, right?

1:18:00Steph McMahon:Like you guys are all genuinely fascinated with it. That would be a really cool episode. Yeah. Because I find the celebrities that come in, like I saw, well, I don't want to bury anybody, but it's like - Come on, give us the juice. Come on. Think of the ratings. Think of the ratings. Well, it seems like they're just not, they're not asking their best questions. And it's like, no, I know you, if you're on this show, clearly you are very interested in this and what's happening so ask yeah some good questions you know yeah i know you guys would it'd be fun yeah i got so many questions yeah i so one of the youtubers that are ancient architects who have become very friendly with and i asked him i said like so the egyptians had the ability to like build these incredible tombs like so precise like aligned like the true north but why wouldn't they build their homes and their schools and their public squares the same way to the same spec and we would still see them now right because they're not a gods versus well he would go into his own theories about like this was designed to last forever and the homes were not and but i see your point yeah like because if you were in that culture you'd be like no i want one of those please yeah well if i can build this to die in like i'm gonna build a nice one to live in too yeah i don't know and some cultures too this this life isn't supposed to be the the life that you enjoy right it's that's on the other side what is this life even right crazy i mean that's a question that's a whole nother podcast honestly though i love like sometimes sometimes sometimes i think it's just i'm now talking to myself like it's my own my own consciousness just like talking talking to itself okay and then like you mean when we're having a conversation you feel like i feel like this whole thing is created like in my consciousness and like it's a projection well that's another theory i've heard that too Yeah.

1:20:08Steph McMahon:Yeah. But it only becomes physical if more than one person is engaging in the same belief. Yeah. That's what I've heard. So it becomes reality when you and I are creating it together. Right? Yep. Yep. So you might buy into this theory. You might be alone on this one. I've read this too. Like I know exactly what you're talking about. What about simulation theory? Are you into that one? I don't know. Because I don't know it as the simulation theory. So basically, like, you remember, like, when we were kids, they had Pac-Man, right? Yeah. And now we have Grand Theft Auto. Okay. Right? So, like, right?

1:20:47So it's obviously moving in a direction where it's very hard to distinguish reality from a video game.

1:20:54Steph McMahon:Sure. Right? So if we fast forward, like, 50 years, we could potentially be able to create this. So what's to say that this hasn't been created already? Right. and we're like bots in a software who's the non-playable character yeah that's the question i'm just stuck walking into the wall i'll tell you it's crazy because my kids my youngest part of the lingo now is like the main character energy or she's an mpc yeah i've heard about this Yeah, they speak in video game jargon. Wow. But in terms of non-playable character, and it doesn't have to mean it's an insult. It just means you're there, but you're not really part of my story.

1:21:44Steph McMahon:You don't have to be involved in this. I like to be an NPC. I plan it up myself. I take it back. Damn it. I didn't mean it. No, see? I didn't know. I didn't know the lingo. and Ryan Reynolds did some movie free guy. Oh yeah. And that was, it was actually a really good movie and he was a non-playable character who became like he woke up or whatever. Yeah. And he was like challenging why he did the same thing every day, the same way. And why do I do this? And like, it was really interesting. Do you believe in free will or? I mean, I do, but it all depends. So if you go back to the Triple H theory of what I experience every day, then yes, I believe in free will.

1:22:36Steph McMahon:And I know when it's taken away, right? And I don't like that feeling either. So I believe that in my current existence, I believe I have the ability to choose whether or not I want to do or believe in something. But it has consequences, whatever my decision is. Yeah. You know, it's not like free will and just do whatever you want. Yeah, I'd be in Egypt right now if I had free will. Well, you could teleport there. I mean. The Luxor is down the street. It's true. It's true. I know. Yeah, we could call Chris Angel. You know what I'm saying? Actually, last year I went to the Luxor just to like look around.

1:23:18We did? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:23:20Steph McMahon:Did you see his show? No, no, no. I just went inside to look around at the. And was it satisfying? No. Only on the outside. Yeah, from the outside it looks cool. I was like asking the internet, like, is that the same size as the pyramids? Trying to like get perspective. Right, and what did it say? It's not quite as big. Like a fragment? Yeah, it was maybe 70%. Oh. Yeah, I can't remember exactly. Bigger than I would have thought. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty impressive. I mean, I guess these hotels are huge. They're big. Huge. It took me like 15 minutes to walk from my room to here. Right?

1:23:52Work up a sweat. Yeah, I know. I got 10 ,000 steps already today. It's like lunchtime.

1:23:58Steph McMahon:That's the best part. Jackie went from our room to the lobby and back, and it was 3 ,000 steps. Wow. Really? Isn't that crazy? 3 ,000 steps. Whoa. Are you a steps counter? No. I've never done it. What's annoying to me is I got an Apple Watch for a little bit. Yeah. and I didn't like not having like I didn't like having a device on me telling me what to do all the time telling me to stand up and breathe oh does it do that yes fuck you apple watch close all your rings yeah I know but so I stopped using it I'm sorry I stopped using it and now my fitness tracker doesn't realize that I don't have an apple watch anymore every day it says you're so close to closing your rings.

1:24:47Steph McMahon:And I'm like, I trained today. You know, it makes me so mad. But I can't delete that off my phone. I'll handle that. No, it won't let you. It's one of the ones that's... Oh, it's like the help. Yeah, it won't go away. You can maybe just turn the notifications off. Yeah, maybe you can help me. Like I said. It drives me crazy. I hate it. My phone won't update. Maybe you can... My software won't update for months. So maybe you can help me with that. I'm not a tech person. Maybe one of you guys can. Yeah. Somebody here definitely can. I'm definitely not the person to ask. Every morning I wake up and it says, your software has not updated in like six months.

1:25:26Really?

1:25:26Steph McMahon:So I get the fitness app at night and you get the in the morning. Now we'll have that. Every time I see my fitness tracker now, I'll think of your software. I'll be honest.

1:25:41Steph McMahon:the thing with the watch though is it becomes or at least for me like every day i need to close the rings i need to hit 10 000 like it's great it's kind of great but i can't do it and then like the there's like a sunday where i'm alone with the two kids and i haven't like worked out and i'm 9 000 something and i'm in the in the bedroom pacing before bed and i'm like what am i doing it's sick and I'm like 10 like it's kind of you're kind of like a machine though I mean she is like if she is set to task those tasks are happening like no matter what and they're getting done and completed or she can't deal with life sorry was that me are you guys list makers I know you joke I'm a super list I need it all on a list too because otherwise it doesn't get done yeah yeah my wife rolls her eyes when she sees me making a list she says you and your lists do you want things done or not yeah that's the only way i remember my parents saying to me as a kid that i was making a list to make a list and i kind of was like oh this is probably a little bit much like i literally was like update notebook list and was like, oh, wow.

1:26:56On a sticky CD.

1:26:57Steph McMahon:That is extreme. I'm an owl. It works, okay? It works. So, wow, Finn, this has been a very unexpected and awesome interview. I've really enjoyed our conversation. I've really enjoyed it too. Because, you know, I've always wanted to get to know you a little bit better. You and Paul have always had like a good relationship, right? Yeah. And then there was a bus ride with Aurora. Yes. Yes. And a plane. To Buffalo, I think. Oh, and a plane. playing on a bus yeah playing on a bus yeah all right and um i remember the first time i met you at nxt because for some reason i had your list of names and i was like hey it's so great to meet you and i've got this list of names for you and i think it maybe caught you off guard i'm not sure it definitely caught me um your reaction was like so like i didn't i clearly like my hands and I didn't mean to put you in a bad spot you know and then I felt real bad that like I put you on the spot well it's it was kind of a funny time because I came into NXT and like obviously had to like change my character change my name change everything and it had been a couple weeks being at the performance center like without yourself and Paul being there and like I was dealing with like people that were employees of the performance center and they were giving me their input and i'm thinking like who is this guy like he doesn't really i don't know him he doesn't know me i've been doing this 16 years right does he even know who i am yeah and it was just very confused and i'm very like um like i didn't know who the boss was for weeks it felt like weeks it in two weeks were you yeah and and i remember like the first tv tape and i was at when you and paul were there everything became like so much more clearer it was just like i knew who'd who to speak to to get the answers that like everyone was like maybe maybe maybe maybe let me check let me ask let me see what they say but frustrating i just had like a like a like clear line yeah yeah always Much better.

1:29:10Much better. Much better. Much better. Cut out the middle man in all scenarios. I actually got a funny story. Okay, please. Which I don't think I've ever told in public. Oh, really? Oh, drum roll. So we're in Full Sail and we're in like that parking area at the back of Full Sail. Yep, I know that area. Which was kind of like the outside of Gorilla, like the backstage.

1:29:26Steph McMahon:Right. And then there was like the other school where there was the auditorium. Yeah. And then behind that, the movie set. Exactly. Yeah. So I'm in like, I'm in, I'm between the auditorium and Gorilla. Okay. And I'm talking to Mr. Regal and to Paul. and I guess Sammy Zane is over in the background just observing, you know, because we're good buddies and he's kind of observing. And I'm talking with Paul and we're having a good conversation. I said, I've got all these ideas and blah, blah, blah. And he said, oh, yeah, just text me to him anytime. And he gives me his number. So I take out my phone and I put in the number.

1:30:00Then, like, as I walk away and I go back over to Sammy's, did you just get Triple H's number? I'm like, yay, he just gave me his number. he's like whoa bro I'm so proud it's like you know when you see your friend at the bar getting the number from like a really hot girl I'm like I was so proud for you bro that's hilarious do you

1:30:21Steph McMahon:know what's funnier is that's exactly what I thought of when you were telling the story yeah with minus the Sammy Zameer that's so funny yeah and everything became like a lot easier from that point forward when I just had like a direct line of communication. There was no like middlemen. He had a clear vision and definitely knew who you were and brought you in for a reason and here's what it is. Because I remember also that same day, it might have actually been the same conversation that led to the phone number exchange was when I signed with WWE, everyone said, oh, you're going to be the Irish Leprechaun, you're going to be Hornswoggle's tag team partner, you know, you're going to be a cartoon, like you can forget about doing all those body paints you can forget about all that stuff and so then I'm at the performance center there's no real answers no one's really in charge so everyone's kind of saying maybe this maybe that so I'm just doing my training and keeping my head down and then when I finally meet Paul and have the conversation we're talking back and forth and we're with Mr.

1:31:22Regal talking about just like wrestling and Japan and then like Paul just kind of like folds his arms and he says so tell me about this body paint and I remember just going ah okay maybe we can do it here Yeah. Yeah. And that's how it kind of got started.

1:31:39Steph McMahon:That's so cool. Yeah. But what's the original body paint? So the original concept behind the body paint was I had been squeaky clean white meat baby face in Japan for a long time. I'd recently turned heel and I was against a new up and coming baby face, Kota Ibushi, who's an incredible athlete. And it was Wrestle Kingdom, which is the WrestleMania of New Japan. And I'm in a singles match against him. And my idea was that I wanted to be like light versus dark, like good versus evil. And my idea was he wears like white gear. So then I thought like, oh, wouldn't it be cool if like, it looked like from the people who are way up in the back, because it's a baseball stadium, if it looked like he was wrestling against a shadow.

1:32:25So I was just going to like paint myself completely like head to toe black paint. So it looked like from the people far away, he was wrestling a shadow. and in the time that I came up with this idea and we actually executed it, it morphed into like more of a demon look than a shadow. But that's kind of where the idea was spawned from.

1:32:46Steph McMahon:That's so cool. That's so cool. It came from being a shadow. Yeah. Well, I was trying to like, I was trying to figure out ways of taking away what the fans recognized as the baby face. So the first idea was like wear a bodysuit. but Justin Thunder Liger wore a bodysuit. So I didn't want to go that way. And then that was kind of, what if I pay myself? And that was it. That's so cool. Yeah. Have you ever gotten into mythology? Yeah. So actually the name Finn Balor is based in mythology because Balor is the one-eyed demon king from Gaelic folklore. And Finn McCool is the kind of, it's kind of like, it's very similar to David versus Goliath where Finn McCool is the David in this story and he slays the one-eyed demon.

1:33:38So I put the two together. The two together. Yeah. Because I remember that list that you're talking about of names. Yeah. You didn't love them. No, and you know what? It's super funny. I've never said this to anyone else. One of those names, and Paul was especially leaning towards this name, was Liv.

1:33:56Steph McMahon:Really? L-I-V. Interesting. Yeah. Well, he's anything but consistent. Yeah. And I can't remember other names that were on there. I had actually Rue was, yeah, R-U-X was on there. Oh, I think actually I remember that. Yeah. But then Paul said, no, no, no. People think of RuPaul. Oh. Yeah. I remember him specifically saying that. You guys look a lot alike. RuPaul? I don't even know who he is. Oh, yeah. No. Is it a drag queen or something? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Yes, and he's African-American and like a big person, big personality. Just like me. Could not be more opposite. He's like, perfect. Yeah. Yeah, that's funny.

1:34:39Do you remember any names that were on there? Not really. Oh, McGregor was on there. Really? And this was before Conor had like really blown up. It was actually, he'd had the fight in Boston where he won, but he injured his knee.

1:34:51Steph McMahon:Okay. And it was just after that. And I remember thinking, no, this guy's going to be a megastar. And I don't want to have like the same name. Would you love to have a match against him? Oh, absolutely. Right? That would be a good one, I think. Yeah. Would you be on his side? Would you be the devil on his shoulder? I think I'd definitely rather be on his side than face-to-face with us for sure. And I want it in a wrestling ring, not in a cage. You've got to be on your terms. Yes. You write the rules. yeah well this has been really awesome it's been super fun thank you so much yeah i've loved i normally i normally no i don't normally i do hate talking about wrestling and we didn't talk really well and so actually i do have another question this coffee's been a problem the whole time i don't know where to hold it i've held it and i put it here switched it try to drink it like around the microphone.

1:35:50Steph McMahon:It's just been awkward the whole time. I see these guys cutting. Like I go to take a sip, I see it's ISO on you. So if this is a simulation and it is your simulation, what are you hoping to happen? How do you want it to end? What does this conversation do for you? Why is it in your simulation, do you think? uh i would just like to end my simulation leaving the simulation better so like i would i was maybe i was maybe i was maybe like the software update that i can't get on my phone okay that like fixed a lot of this shit that we're dealing with is that possible if it's already is it possible to break out of the simulation and do you have to break out of it to make the change You know what, talking about breaking out, when I was in Japan, I used to like get so claustrophobic in the back stages because we were much smaller.

1:36:53There was one arena called Differariyaki, which was like one side of Tokyo, but it was kind of on Tokyo Bay kind of area where the river is and stuff. And I'd go out like a fire escape where there was like a fire escape steps and I'd stand on the fire escape and I'd look up at the stars because I'd try and like disassociate myself from all the chaos inside. right and just like kind of breathe and settle down and try and get calm before I had to wrestle and I used to look at the stars I used to say like the only thing that's holding me here is I believe that gravity works and if I don't believe that if I believe I can fly up into those stars I can do it wow and I used to like stand there going like come on you can fly You don't fly.

1:37:38Gravity's not real. You don't fly. Now, I never flew up. Right. But it does help me, like, get more calm to, like, disassociate from, like, all the rules that we, like, impose on ourselves. Like, you have to sit up straight. You have to.

1:37:53Steph McMahon:Right. Yeah, dress nice. You have to do all these different things where you don't really have to do anything. Right. It's up to you. Yeah. Well, you do look great, though. I appreciate you dressing up. Thank you so much. Yes. Well, this was awesome. All right. Thanks so much, guys. Thank you.